From the Ashes
by ThirdStrike
Summary: When he was awoken from a future of ash, he had one objective. Kill Lucina.
1. Chapter 1

_When the Fire Emblem crumbles to ash, the Dragon's blood thickens. The cursed liquid thickens to sludge, devours everything and burns with the might of Grima's __Breath - Grima's Truth, Page 12._

This was his limit. It was inevitable. _Grima _was inevitable.

Dragging his feet across the ashen dune that was once the fields of Southtown where farmers harvested their annual crops for the winter. Robin took in a scorching breath of air through the makeshift mask he wore, feeling the heat that eternally radiated from the horizon.

_When was the last time I ate…? _He allowed himself idle thoughts as he pulled himself over the ruins of a wall, the stone dissolving into dust under the slightest touch of his worn gloves. Honestly, at this rate he'd end up falling temptation to devouring Risen flesh before the end of the world killed him.

It had practically felt like yesterday when he first arrived at the Halidom with Chrom, Lissa and Frederick. With children dancing on the streets, the aromas of freshly baked goods and the remnants of the last night's bear meat. He smiled weakly at the nostalgic thought before stumbling forward. He had more important things to do rather than idle on lost memories.

At the end of the world; there wasn't exactly anything more important than to survive the oncoming darkness that remaining survivors called 'Night'.

Whether it was actually the night or not was unknown, the sun had already been swallowed by the Fell Dragon, its once-warm and comforting gaze now seared the ground, shrouding the once-green land in grey ash as far as the eye could see.

All of this, because of one individual.

_Lucina._

Brushing his fingers against the blade by his side; Falchion, Robin could feel the immense fury and distaste that surged from his heart at the mention of the sapphire haired princess. It had been common knowledge that many believed the daughter of Chrom was the reincarnation of the previous Exalt herself. Said to cause her own father's disappearance before slaughtering several shepherds in cold blood before being restrained and locked away in the Mila tree.

The blade she wielded, Falchion, had been handed to him for the day that Sumia had delivered the news, her legs too weak to stand on her own as the world was buried in ash.

There was no so-called Exalts left to lead the world. Naga's divine blade was to forever be blunt, unable to strike down the very beings that created it.

_So… This is it. _He could feel his legs crumpling from beneath him. Constant walking without sleep from Regna Ferox to Ylisse, Risen attacks that were near impossible to defeat with a blunted edge and the lack of food finally reminded Robin of his weakness.

He was only human.

With the first Risen attack, he had been confident. With only four of the soldiers wielding rusted weapons, he had drawn them to him one by one before bludgeoning them to death with the flat of the dull blade in a sense that was reminiscent of Vaike.

He had repeated the process several times with the next attacks, but the effort was time consuming and painful, severely underestimating the power of weak units being constantly hurled at him. The once-tactician had cursed his dulled mind as he ran from the Revenant that eventually clawed its way through the ash.

His face hit the ashen dune and his arms refused to respond. A pitiful sight to behold. Once a man who commanded hundreds of troops into battle with minimal losses, surrounded by loving comrades and friends.

Where were those comrades now?

Buried deep under the ash, slowly turning into the undead, Revenants that stalked the landscape with the faded Shepherd's colors flying.

Maybe this fate wasn't so bad after all. After all, if stories had a beginning then they obviously would have an end. It was a peaceful end to his world, a punishment and reward for the slaughter of soldiers on both sides of the war. He'd slowly sink into the ash and fade, becoming death like his former comrades. He managed a weak chuckle as his tears evaporated on contact with the scorched earth.

Perhaps they'd get together again and growl over a camp of black fire, eating the remains of withered animals and claw at the Mila tree until the day it finally collapsed. Yeah, that'd be pretty fun.

_Yeah… _He could feel his eyes drooping, his dirty, unwashed white hair obscuring his remaining vision. _That actually might… be… fun._

_January 23rd, 5 years after Grima's return._

_Robin, Tactician of the Shepherds, Last living human being._

_Dead._

* * *

"Chrom, ignore the big hulking idiot here for a sec. We gotta do _something_."

_Ah… This sounds familiar…_

"Well… What do you propose we do?" A male voice replied to the younger girl's question. Robin's eyelids fluttered, feeling the soft grass beneath him tickle his cheeks. The breeze was gentle and he could feel the sun's warm embrace upon him.

Wait.

Grass? _Breezes? __**Sun?!**_

He shot up instantly, instantly slamming his forehead into the jaw of the male in front of him. The standing man toppling backwards into the arms of a knight

"What in the name of Naga-" He nursed his forehead as the male in front of him propped himself up, rubbing his jaw ruefully as the girl beside him started laughing.

"That's my line!" The man looked extremely familiar through Robin's bleary vision as he chortled loudly. "I don't think anyone's hit me that hard ever since… Well. Ever!" Dragging a hand through his blue hair, the man stood back up and offered his hand welcomingly. "There are better places to take a nap on the ground, you know."

Taking the offered hand gratefully, Robin pulled himself up to the man's height. There was no doubt about it. Blue hair, the Exalt's brand on his shoulder and a friendly smile on a handsome face. A combination he hadn't seen in _years._

"My jaw actually hurts quite a lot, but what about you, friend? You all right?"

_Chrom?! So that's… Lissa and Frederick?!_

"Yes… Thank you Chrom." He rubbed the back of his head ruefully and turned to look around his surroundings. An awfully familiar situation flooded his senses. A small village in the distance, the afternoon sun in the sky and the surprisingly young and innocent faces that the three wore - nothing like the gaunt and haggard expressions that donned them in their final moments.

Then how did he get here? Was he still in his dying moments but was reliving the past? Or did he really travel back in time? The concept of time travel was strange, but not uncommon. He had seen it with his own eyes, Risen being sent back through time through portals that opened up randomly and swallowed them whole, sending them to locations that glowed with life and energy.

Then… Had he turned into a Risen? Or perhaps this was simply just a trick played on the mind caused by the final moments before the abyssal eternity?

_No. Calm down, Robin. You're the tactician of the Shepherds, you're the one who's supposed to have the job that requires calm people. Doing calming stuff during not-so calming events. Calm. Calm. _He repeated the mantra in his head as Chrom shook his hand in greeting.

"Aha, so you already know of me?"

_If this had been a trick then there'd be no need feigning ignorance to my existence, the theory of reliving my last memories went out the moment I smashed my forehead into him… _Robin frowned slightly at his thought process. _Is this really the past? Did I happen to go through time as I died?_

"Yes-" He caught himself, the past him _was _supposed to be an amnesiac. What consequences would there be if he had acted out of character? That wasn't exactly a risk he was willing to take. "-But no, sorry… Your name strangely came into my head…" He did his best attempt of a completely confused and unaware man. "W...What? That's… Ugh… Gods. I can't seem to think of anything."

"Hmm… How curious." He could feel Chrom giving him the critical eye, with Frederick doing the same beside him. "But how about your name? What exactly brings you here?"

"My name… My name is… It's…" The white haired actor grimaced, as if he was deep in thought. "Give me a second…"

"You can't even remember your own name?" Both men's eyebrows raised at the same time as Lissa finally stopped laughing and stood up to join them, her hands waving around like an excited child.

"Hey! Chrom! I've heard of this! It's called amnesia!"

"It's also called a load of pegasus dung." Frederick finally spoke up, his voice as deadpan as usual. Robin had to bite his tongue from smiling at the familiar interaction of the man who had accompanied him during his final journey. "How exactly can we believe that you remember milord's name but not your own? Preposterous!"

"B-But… It's the truth!" Okay. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe there was a tiny white lie in there but hey, no one would ever know.

Robin had apparently convinced Chrom, as the prince of Ylisse turned to Frederick with a questioning expression.

"...But what if it is the truth? We can't just leave him here, alone and confused. What sort of shepherds would we be?"

"Wary ones." Lissa quipped quickly before Frederick could even speak. "Because gods forbid even one of us keeps an appropriate sense of caution-" She imitated the man's deep and stern voice with her hands on her hips for exaggerated effect.

"Well said, milady." Frederick either didn't catch the sarcasm or ignored it (It was probably the latter), "We must be careful to not let wolves into our flock."

"I'm sorry. _Flock? Wolves?_" Robin blinked in apparent confusion at the terminology, he was quite proud of his act; Sumia and Cynthia had once dragged him through Maribelle's classes in the past and now he was starting to appreciate the gesture. "Is that a metaphor for something?"

"Well, no… But yes. In a way." Chrom chuckled at Robin's confusion before proceeding to elaborate. "I suppose introductions are in order, but let's get out of the field, alright? I'd rather not have crop-bugs laying eggs in my shoes."

"Wait. What?" Lissa paled, the laughter in her eyes rapidly dying as she looked down tentatively to her muddy boots. "What do you mean there are bugs-"

* * *

"Lissa. There are no bugs." Robin chuckled quietly as he looked back to the young princess, who was checking the soles of her boots for the tenth time. "If there were bugs in the crops then wouldn't you be eating them each time you had bread?"

Okay. Maybe there were bugs, but they didn't lay eggs in people's shoes.

-Not that Robin had heard of any.

"Yeugh, that's disgusting, Robin." They had found his name, gouged into the wooden sheath that secretly housed the Parallel Falchion that had somehow travelled with him. Nothing much was on his being, apart from a simple Thunder spell and the blunt blade, encased within its sheath.

It looked like they had accepted his story, with the proof of his constant tiresome act of not knowing what anything was and the fact that very little had been left on him.

"Relax, milady. If there were any impertinent bugs that dared to touch the soles of such- I would eradicate with my spear!" Frederick spoke up from his position in front of the road, picking up even the smallest rocks that littered the path.

"Thank you, Frederick. But I'd rather you not stick a lance up my foot in the efforts to eliminate a pest." Chrom deadpanned before his laughter soon joined Lissa's.

Robin allowed himself a small smile. When was the last time the four of them had been this relaxed? The Lissa in the future was cold and ruthless, denying healing to those unless they were critically injured. Frederick had been wrapped in his own depression, after failing not one, but _three _Exalts. All from different generations. And Chrom had long since gone missing at the hands of Lucina herself.

Watching them act like this, watching them in such a _peaceful_ place; almost reduced him to tears. If this truly was the benevolent act of time travel, then he'd try his damn hardest to keep them like this.

"_Chrom! _Look! The village!" Lissa had stopped inspecting her soles and instead was pointing in the direction they had been walking in. In the distance, the quiet village of Southtown smoldered gently, flames licking the highest tower of the church of Naga in the center.

_Correction: Slightly more peaceful place._

"The town's on fire! Quick! Lissa, Frederick! With me!" Chrom reacted instantly, drawing Falchion and turning to the direction of the village. "Damned Brigands! We'll show them what it means to mess with Ylisse!" He took off, the other three following in pursuit.

"What about him, milord?!" Despite the massive armor that held him down, Frederick seemed to be outpacing both Robin and Lissa as he sprinted beside Chrom.

"Unless he's on fire, his situation can wait!"

_Smartass._

"I can fight too! I think…" Robin managed to wheeze out, while he had never been as ripped as the other members in the shepherds in the future, he had developed a slight stamina due to the agonising Frederick Fanatic Hours that peppered his schedule.

Yeah. That stamina didn't exist anymore.

"Pick a god and pray!" Frederick momentarily disappeared as the group rushed through the gates before reappearing, riding a massive armored horse. It had always baffled Robin how quickly his mount seemed to find him in moments of crisis. He watched the man charge into a pair of myrmidons - minimal experience at first glance, newly recruited bandits - and effortlessly dispatch both of them.

"You'll regret the very day you crossed the Shepherds!" Chrom effortlessly parried a swipe with Falchion before slicing the offending blade in hand and delivering a powerful kick that sent the attacking bandit into the river. With an effortless motion, he was picked up by Frederick and placed behind him on his mount as they both charged into the fray.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why we even cam- _Robin to your left!"_ Lissa's shrill scream alerted Robin to the incoming axe wielder descending upon him from the ruins of a burning house.

Years of training and instinct kicked into place, the sheathed Parallel Falchion deflected the axe to the side before he used the hilt of the sword to break the man's nose, delivering him a Chrom-esque kick into the river alongside his friend.

He didn't even need Lissa's notice as the second bandit appeared, a blade in hand. He dipped under the clumsy swing before delivering an uppercut with the point of the scabbard, the myrmidon blinking slowly in realisation before collapsing to the ground.

"Just the tip… Huh." He chuckled at the memory of Chrom's teachings that he had asked to 'substitute' for the Frederick's Fanatical Double Hour. One was enough for him, thanks.

Turns out the prince of Ylisse and his faithful bodyguard were brutally efficient, in the time that it took for Robin to defeat the two bandits, the rest were either missing hands or in the river. Not a single life taken.

"Robin! By Naga! I know for now you're not some helpless victim at the way you used that blade, without even drawing it? Now that's some work!" Chrom had returned, slipping off Frederick's horse, he clapped the tactician on the back warmly.

_You didn't even get to see my tactics! MY Tactics! I'm the tactician, for Naga's sake!_

"I'm more surprised at how you could even see him during that fight." Lissa grumbled, waving her hands to the injured men that lay on the ground. "Seriously, you guys just aren't normal."

The inner tactician inside Robin exploded. "What the heck was that? Did you look at the numbers? They had a lance user! That guy really could of hurt that monster-" He gestured wildly to Frederick's horse, which proceeded to spit at him. "We could've used the bridges to force them to the burning church and smoke them out! We could've maintained a formation-" He caught himself mid-outburst at the sight of Chrom's laughter.

"Be at peace, friend. Tactics were never my forte, next time; if there's a situation, I'll ask for your input." He rolled his eyes and slung his arm around the slightly miffed man. "Besides, you fought well today, fought well for Ylisse. That makes you an ally and friend in my heart."

"And what about your mind, milord?" Frederick spoke up from his intimidating position on his steed, how there wasn't a single speck of dirt or blood on any of the armor on the two still remained a mystery to Robin to this day, even after he had tried questioning the Frederick in the future numerous times.

"In this time, where Brigands and thieves look to bloody our soil, we need all the help we can get. Robin's an able swordsman, with quite the eye for tactics if I were to hazard a guess. We could do with the help in the Shepherds."

"Aren't you being a little too trusting?" Strangely enough, both Robin and Frederick spoke at the same time before exchanging mildly bewildered glances to each other. Lissa laughed and patted the two men - which was quite hard to do since she had to pat Frederick's foot after reaching up.

"There, there. If anything, Chrom's always too trusting. It's our job to look out for him, right fellas?"

"You do realise that the person who's trust in question is me, Lissa. Right?"

"Bah! Details!" She trivialised their concerns with a wave of her stave before turning to the oncoming villager emerging from the house that the previous axe wielder had burst out from.

"Milord, please! Ask of anything in reward and we'll give it to you! Food, accommodation, money, anything! We're merely a simple folk living in a simple town, but please let us compensate you!"

"Oho!" Robin saw the disturbing gleam in Lissa's eyes that were usually present in the merchant Anna's. "Dark meat for me, medium rare, no salt because tha-"

"We require no reward, only for the wish for you to ensure that others are safe during this time of crisis. We do need to hurry to Ylisstol after all." Chrom shook the sobbing man's hand kindly, a caring smile decorating his features as Frederick let out an almost unnoticeable chuckle.

"Wait what? We're not staying?" Lissa looked like Christmas had come early and she had opened up a hundred presents of charcoal. Ignoring her brother's stern look, she turned to her last line of defense. The stalwart knight of Ylisse. "But Frederick, it's nearly dark!"

"When night falls, we camp. Eat what we can forage, hunt for wild beasts and sleep on beds of twigs and leaves." He replied instantly, without a single bit of hesitation or remorse.

"R-Robin? Surely you're not…" There he was, the wildcard. The chance to turn all tables in one fell swoop. The tactician of the board. The side he'd support would win easily.

"Bear meat."

* * *

"Wait. I just realised." Robin gulped down a massive chunk of bear game before pointing the stick he had used as a skewer in Chrom's direction accusingly. "You never did offer me a place to join your 'Shepherds'. You figuratively said 'Oh, this guy's real good and swell at stuff. Let's take him' And kidnapped me! Without any input from me!"

They were sat upon old, fallen logs with a small fire in the middle. The remains of a bear slowly roasting over the top, which Lissa had rejected on the premise that "It stank and we're messing with the food chain."

"Oh, sorry." He didn't look very sorry. "Did I not mention that? Welcome to the Shepherds." He took a bite out of his own joint before mischievously grinning at the offended tactician. "Attend all meetings and stay in top form."

"Chrom you do realise we can't kidnap people, yeah?" Lissa grumbled quietly in the tent she sulked behind, her own plate of meat abandoned to the side.

"You quite literally just did the thing I told you about. Again?" Robin did his best impression of a Frederick deadpan, his own eyes dancing with the mischief that was present in the prince's. "What about you, sir Frederick?"

"I've always served milord, ever since I was a child. I would do so without hesitation-"

"So did you have a choice?"

"That matters not, what matters is that I dedicate mind and body to servin-"

"You didn't have a choice. Okay, so he was conscripted. You see! Chrom! You're leading a party of kidnapped people!" He couldn't help it, it had been so long since they were together, with no present threat of constant death or dragons turning allies into undead, Robin was taking the time to unwind. The taste of bear meat to his stale palette of old army rations and tree bark was heaven in a portable form.

The fact that they'd get attacked by Risen in less than five hours was also a desperate reason to unwind. Too long a time spent being on edge meant a dulled mind during battle.

The future Exalt didn't have a response, instead guffawing loudly into the night as Frederick's inner zealot sprung forth and made him go on a tangent on how he was "Born for his lord" and "Always faithful."

"You know-" Chrom started to calm down, still clutching his sides, staining his noble clothes with bear fat. "I think we'll be very good friends, Robin." The tactician smiled sweetly, his very presence emulating that of a kind, benevolent human being.

"Uh huh. In your dreams, kidnapper."

**A new story. While I am by far nowhere near a beginner when it comes to writing; It is my first attempt at a fanfiction. Constant updates are not a promise. I do not know the level of commitment I will dedicate this to but I will offer the promise of at least a chapter a month.**

**Enjoy. Although it would be preferable for you - The Reader - to send feedback to me for potential further improvements. Good day.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**For every answer; two questions.**_

* * *

_Dance! Sing! Where the lords fall, he shalt ne'er crumble! Praise Grima! Praise the Dragon! - Traditional Songs of Plegia, Page 5_

* * *

"_We've got to try, nevertheless." A hushed argument could be heard from the inside of the wall of Fort Longfort, where the once infallible structure now teetered on the brink of collapse. "There could be survivors. If we survived, then someone else would've!" If one looked close enough, they could see a half-obscured campsite, where a small fire flickered in the harsh wind._

"_And what if there isn't? A journey that uses a colossal amount of resources, maximum risk and minimum reward with the constant threat of the Risen stalking under each pile of ash we walk by?" Frederick was stubbornly refusing the tacticians arguments with his own sound logic from his position by the flames. His armor had seemed to be the only thing that hadn't changed. Constantly polished, polished so much that Robin could see his own distorted face in the reflection whenever he turned to the once-great knight._

"_And if there are survivors? As the Shepherds, we have to look in the most desolate of places, even if there's a sliver of a chance!" Their argument was heated, almost as fiery as the flames that warmed the two in the winter night, but their tones remained quiet; the Revenant that prowled outside had senses far exceeding that of a human being's, after all._

"_Shepherds?" Frederick let out a quiet, hollow laugh. "What Shepherds? A failure of a knight and a tactician?" The knight continued, ignoring how biting the words he spoke were to both individuals. "We've failed, Robin. The Shepherds are no more. Ylisse is no more." His fist crushed the piece of charcoal that he had been rolling between his fingers._

_They both stopped to watch the black dust trickle through his gauntlet, it was true. After all; they had both watched as their comrades fell one by one, overpowered by the Night and the horrors it brought. They had watched them all, dragged under the ash where they were denied the burial rites they deserved and were turned into undeath itself. Robin sighed and relented, his own dreams buried underneath Frederick's hard logic._

_Nothing more was spoken, neither had anything more to add to their argument and neither had the strength to fight for them anymore._

_What was right in this world? What was wrong?_

_True, Frederick may have believed that their - Robin's safety - was the current top priority, where perhaps some false, misplaced hope in the Falchion enwreathed in a Mila wood sheath would one day strike true against the Fell Dragon, ending this age of Ash._

_Robin had already given up._

_Something in him shattered when the Fell Dragon rose, the part within him that annihilated his conception of 'sadness' as his tactician's mind took over. He hadn't grieved at any of his losses, instead chalking down in his mind's database of which unit was lost and the new formations he would have to form._

_He ignored the sickening lurch in his stomach that assured him that there was one less mouth to feed._

_He already knew the world would end. Even if the ash was dispersed, the ruined buildings and crops would ensure not a single strand of life would live in the desolate world. The sun would never return; being swallowed by the Dragon itself. _

_There was no food, nothing to sustain them until the days that the bark of the trees they rationed upon crumbled into dust on their tongues. Farmland animals no longer existed, having long gone extinct by the rise of Grima._

_There were only two things living in the day and age._

_Humans, and wolves._

_Pale, starving animals that strove to work together in packs; their strikes filled with desperation and the animalistic urge to eat so much that they held no disregard for their lives. The only source of meat after the waves of ash swept through the continent; tough, sinewy muscle that Robin would chew on for hours on end._

_What world would it be without a sun to provide crops? With most of the farmland animals in the world buried ten foot under ash? Were there even any other human beings to reproduce with? _

_No. Robin had long steeled his resolve. Rather than lead the survivors into a new age, he would gently lead them into oblivion. To ensure that they embraced death with open arms, rather than dying through a meaningless fight that was one-sided to begin with._

"_Dust storm incoming. Looks to last through the night." Frederick's dull voice shook him from Robin from his thoughts, his face covered by shadow as he peered out a crack in the wall to the starless night. _

_Their fire was fading, though none bothered to add any remnants of old banners and broken furniture that littered the room. It was almost as if they had accepted that they were slowly edging towards their ends. "I'll take watch. Wake you up in five hours."_

"_Yeah, yeah. Sweet dreams Frederickson." Robin laid down to rest against the stone wall, Parallel Falchion securely knotted around his wrist. Neither of them speaking a word long after the flames finally died out._

_The wolves in the distance gave a haunting howl, while the constant incoherent mumbling and groaning of Risen was drowned out by the tempest that descended upon them._

* * *

You know, it was kind of hard to sleep when two of your party had suddenly up and left before the earth had exploded.

Robin had felt the sudden change in air as Chrom started to stir; a charge in the air. The magical properties of the forest swirling into one focused point deep within. The feeling of a storm about to settle.

He hadn't gone with them last time, when he was still an oblivious amnesiac with no clue about magic and instinct, so it made sense for him to stay by the cinders of their campfire, discreetly watching over Frederick and the demon horse that lay next to him.

Still, he couldn't deny that feeling that he got before a battle that he knew was going to take place. Like the leaves in Autumn that were gently falling, he knew that it would happen, just not _when_.

Maybe there was a cue for him to wake up Frederick and start running, like a big sign of Chrom saying _Help! _

Honestly, knowing the future seemed to stress him out more than the act of not knowing.

"Hey! Wake up!" Frederick had awoken without any of his own intervention, the knight's obvious panic showing on his face as he shook the supposedly-sleeping tactician. "Milord and milady are nowhere to be seen!" His steed slowly pulled itself up from its position at the sudden outburst.

"W-Wha…? What's going on, Frederick?" He needed an accolade for the acting that he showed, hell; he could probably be the only one to re-enact one of Sumia's plays without dissolving into giggles.

In the distance, an explosion sounded; followed by the unnatural shifting of earth and the change in temperature that was all too familiar to him.

"No time! Move!" The knight had already mounted his steed and had galloped into the direction of trodden foliage. Cursing quietly, Robin grabbed Parallel Falchion and tied it securely to his wrist before running after the knight, leaping over gnarled roots and running past stampeding animals.

"_Watch it, Frederick!" _A jagged bolt of flame struck down from the heavens ahead, narrowly missing the knight and striking the base of a tree, turning it to ash instantly. Frederick's expression didn't change at all from the close shave from death and instead willed his steed faster, soon leaving Robin in the dust. "_Slow down! Gods damn it!"_

He could see their destination in the distance as he broke through a clearing, one of Lissa's ribbons lay smouldering next to a cluster of burning bushes, their once-vibrant leaves dispersing into the wind.

A large towering wall of flame, still quite a distance away, was spewing out bolts of flame indiscriminately that struck down even the mightiest of oaks, reducing them to a pile of cinders and ash in moments.

"Chrom! Lissa!" He gagged in the thick smoke, burning his lungs and restricting his view. He could barely make out the prince in the distance, shielding his sister as they both stumbled their way through the undergrowth, bolts of fire raining down upon them. Frederick had split off, rotating around the forest to be able to pick up the two when they had exited the worst of the flames.

"Robin!" Lissa had spotted him, her eyes wide with fright as she pointed above him. "What… What is _that?!_" He couldn't see anything through the oncoming smoke as he continued his mad sprint to the ditch where the royals had ducked into.

_Crack! _A firebolt struck where he had been standing not even a second ago, he could feel the hood of his coat burning, the heat scorching his back as hot ash trickled down his shirt.

"_Run! Get over here! NOW!" _Chrom bellowed, skilfully splitting an incoming bolt with a slice from Falchion, the electrical flames travelling into the blade before bursting back out, rendering the two trees next to him and Lissa to charred clumps of cinder.

"_The hell do you think I'm doing!" _Parallel Falchion pulsed erratically, as if it was emulating his own heartbeat. His momentum momentarily stopping as he stumbled over a crumbling root, tripping into a pile of ash.

A mistake that cost him dearly.

He let out a guttural scream as white hot pain tore through his leg. Looking at the wound in his left calf, he could feel the rising bile in his cracked throat as he stared at the gaping hole that had already been cauterized, the flesh around the afflicted area slowly beginning to crumble.

Another surge had struck the ground beside him, half burying him in smoking clumps of dirt and cinder, the cry in his throat dying out as the smoke overtook him, like a blanket of darkness snuffing out a candle. Like a blanket of _Night_.

"_Robin!_" Chrom cursed angrily at the sight of the tactician's fall before tearing off the bottom of his cloak and attaching it to his mouth as a mask. "_Lissa! I'm going in!" _He surged into the black fog immediately, Falchion's light reflecting the determination that glinted in his eyes.

"Chrom? Chrom?! What are you doing?!" The princess let out a yelp and ducked as another bolt struck the ground, dispersing flames between the black fog and the ditch where she hid in. Pressing her face against the dirt, she covered her head as a rain of ash and embers blanketed her and the surrounding area. "Get back here!"

* * *

"_You don't seem to like the ocean very much." The other figure that lay against the tree started in surprise at the sound of his voice. "You seem to be so much more engrossed in the stars." He smiled at his own joke, there wasn't a single bit of clear sky tonight; storm clouds coming in from the west, from Plegia._

_Robin waited patiently from his position by the base of the tree, a single oak that sat in a clearing on a cliff overlooking the wide ocean. Taking the silence to focus on the other natural sensations beside him; the gentle breeze, the blades of grass that tickled his fingers when he brushed his hands against them, the sound of insects creaking in the distance and the feeling of hard oak against his back._

"_I confess, the ocean was never a place of solace for me or my comrades." Lucina finally spoke up, her tone careful and calculating. He had long since become used to that tone, where she had built up walls around her heart._

_Nevertheless, he'd tear it down brick by brick to know who she really was inside._

"_Revenants that had developed in the seas, developing horrifying appendages that allowed them to travel at inhuman speeds, that allowed them to render anything living in even the shallowest waters to bones in mere seconds." The time-travelling princess exhaled, her mind evidently focusing on past events._

_Past events that the tactician couldn't even hope to imagine. Who knew what she had gone through apart from her own comrades, either missing or dead?_

"_So that's why sources of water always make you uncomfortable?" _

"'_Uncomfortable' would be a severe underestimation."_

"_Yeah. I was joking." Silence fell upon the two, leaving them in silence that was neither awkward nor comfortable at the same time. Like the silence between two fighters meeting on the battlefield._

"_But…" Robin thought on his words, choosing them carefully the same way Lucina had. "Do you know what I see when I look at this view?"_

_He didn't receive an answer, but he knew he had captured her attention, even if for a moment._

"'_What do you see, oh greatest tactician of all tacticians? The most Shepherdest in the Shepherds?' Well, I thank you for your compliments, Princess Lucina, but sugarcoating words won't coax out my answers any faster!" He talked to the finger puppet version of Lucina he had made to replace the stoic, silent one beside him. _

"_What do you see?" The real Lucina either completely missed the point of humor or chose to ignore it, she sounded genuinely interested._

"_I see…" He pursed his lips and turned to view the ocean, far as the eye could see. "I see a world of the unknown, of wishes unfulfilled and dreams unachieved. Like a siren, singing sweetly from over the horizon." He turned his gaze to the princess, who's eyes now gazed over the glittering waters. "And there sure as hell aren't any Revenants in there right now." _

_She didn't laugh, he shrugged. It was a bad joke anyway._

"_I look out there and I'm reminded that I'm just one guy, I can't do everything in the world. I look out there and remember that I'm not alone, that I can travel that unknown world with those I trust. That I can fulfill the wishes of each and everyone of us as we achieve our dreams."_

_Another silence, though he had suspected that this one would last. Picking up the folded coat beside him, he stood up to leave, brushing imaginary dirt off his lap._

_It was only when he had reached the outskirts of the clearing did Lucina speak up, her tone still remained guarded, but it had softened slightly compared to her speech earlier._

"_Why did you tell me this?" He could feel those sapphire eyes flickering between his retreating form and the ocean, he could see the uncertainty and doubt in her eyes. _

_And in that moment, he had felt old. Decades older than his actual age as he turned his gaze back to Lucina, a ghost of a smile on his face._

"_Who knows?" _

* * *

"_-rab his arm, now!"_

"Y-Yessir!"

He could feel two pairs of strong arms lifting him up, half-carrying, half-dragging him across the darkness where the clouds of black occasionally lighting up as pillars of light struck the ground.

"To the north! To the north!" Chrom yelled something incoherent to the groggy tactician, his lolling head letting him stare down at his left leg. What had been a normal, animated leg was now ashen grey and cracked, as if it was made of cobblestone and left to age; something that would break at the slightest touch.

Almost the same shade of that of Risen.

The rain of fire never let up, he could make out shadows in the darkness whenever light shone through, shadows of falling trees, dispersing into ash as they fell, poor wildlife that hadn't made it out in time; the smoke drowning their own cries for help as they writhed in suffocation.

"Set him down here, we're safe here for now-_Lissa! Hurry up!"_ Chrom turned to face the flaming wall from where they lay in the ditch, Falchion in hand. "_I'll cover you!" _His terrified sister wordlessly nodded, ducking and sprinting under toppling trees and flaming roots as the prince caught a bolt of flame and redirected it into the sky.

"Chrom! Get back!" A second voice, a male voice that sounded strangely familiar sounded from Robin's side, his eyes never leaving the cracked hole that centered on his left calf. A sickening curiosity encouraging him to look at the ashen earth through the wound.

"Robin? Robin?! By Naga-" Lissa grabbed her healing stave, her hands already tearing the fabric off his legs and dipping the wound in vulnerary. He heard an impact as Chrom slid back down into the ditch, the sweat that covered his forehead already beginning to evaporate.

"W-Wha…?" Robin grunted, his dry throat threatening to cause him to choke once again in the black air. His vision still swam with tears that burned his eyes, evaporating the second they spilled out. Lissa silenced his hacking coughs by pressing a lukewarm waterskin to his mouth.

"You know-" Chrom gasped out from beneath his soot-covered mask. "I thought taking a nap in the middle of a field was the worst that could happen. You-" He coughed violently as he accepted a waterskin from the stranger beside him. "You exceeded expectations, in the worst way possible."

The storm seemed to be dying down, the towering wave of flames had reduced in size, they could no longer feel the scorching heat on their flesh and the expanding darkness seemed to be retreating into itself unnaturally.

"Well excuse me… For taking-" Robin hissed in pain as Lissa cast her healing magic, feeling the pierced bone mend itself. "For taking a damned lightning bolt to the leg." He couldn't even feel the rest of his leg as he watched the flesh reconnect like a constellation in a full moon.

Chrom decided that if he was well enough to be sarcastic, he was well enough to be ignored. "You have my thanks, by the way." His tone was grateful, yet wary at the same time as he passed back the waterskin to the silent individual beside them.

"There is no need, I'm sure anyone else would do something like that if they were placed in that situation." The voice sent chills down Robin's spine, chills that travelled down to his unresponsive legs and then back to his brain; where it was completely emptied of all coherent thought but one name.

_Lucin-_

"You say that, but not all would willingly risk their lives for two strangers they had never met before." Chrom had apparently decided to trust the mysterious individual, who was wearing a mask that covered their face to boot. "Tell me, what's your name?" He wiped his grimy hand on the crumbling grass before offering it forward in greeting.

There was no doubt about it, even as the fog completely dissipated and allowed the waning moon to cast its light on them, Robin couldn't have been more sure that he had been ever since he accused Gaius of stealing his dessert.

The short bob of sapphire hair that he knew hid length beneath the cloak, the sheath by her waist that held her own Falchion, the singed mask that hid eyes that held that enchanting melancholy to them.

"... _Marth._"

**I removed an earlier chapter like I said previously. I like keeping a track on what chapters I can write and what can then be used to form a captivating plot. It will probably happen again, do not worry.**

**I'm glad that there was a positive response to the story. Allow me to use this time to apologise. I'm still trying to find the equilibrium between a reader's desires and the writer's. **

**It's rather challenging. Though the scales will inevitably tip in one side's favor throughout the course of my writing before I can find that balance.**

**I wish to answer questions with chapters, and present new ones along the way. That is what I think personally keeps bringing me back to writing.**

**What question is being asked here? What is the aspect of humanity that I want to bring forth with my mediocre writing? I wish to ask this question and find an answer, personally. No matter how terrible my writing is.**


	3. Chapter 3

"_Look; you've got two options. Stay here and die or march on and die. I'll never hold it against you no matter what you choose. But I sure as hell ain't dying with wounds on my back." - Robin, Shepherd's Tactician. January 14th, 5 Years after Grima's revival_

* * *

"_Frederick! Get down!" Robin dragged the Great Knight down underneath the wall where he had been sleeping originally as a wolf threw itself to where Frederick had been standing seconds before, its neck colliding brutally into the concrete wall and falling still._

_He had to give the creatures the respect they deserved. With a steeled resolve so strong that they would cast aside their own lives for the potential survival of them and their group; it was an admirable trait, if not downright disturbing._

_The cunning they exuded from targeting the Great Knight due to the large amount of muscle he had compared to Robin's gaunt face was also a massive threat to their unstable formation. Hungry wolves meant desperate wolves. Desperate wolves meant unpredictability._

_Unpredictability changed constants into unknown variables that ruined even the best plans. Unpredictability was the worst enemy of any tactician._

_However, these wolves were fighting against two of the best Shepherds to live to date. Frederick had already picked up his lance and wielded it like a greatsword, swinging in arcs to keep the starving pack at bay, back to back with Robin as they slowly backed up._

"_I do hope you have a plan, tactician?" Frederick spoke up as they pressed their backs to the wall. Their howls were starting to get louder, and that damned Revenant that had been following them for years would eventually find them. Again._

"_Uh;.. Yeah?" Robin caught another wolf that pounced at him, ignoring the dull pain of ingrown claws digging into his sleeve while thrusting the dull Falchion down its throat and clamping its mouth shut until it stopped struggling. _

_Letting the dead body slide from the blade, he re-positioned himself beside the knight. "There's four left; we take out two- preferably that big one over there- and run. Last thing we need it that Revenant breathing down our spine." He allowed himself a grim smile as he watched the wolf's saliva on the blade evaporate in the scorching light._

"_Ready for yet another fight in our stubbornly unending lives?" Frederick laughed hollowly at the quip as he tightened his grip on his lance, both of their eyes glancing to the horizon, where a faded blue-caped, hulking monstrosity slowly edged over the ashen dune. He could see every detail on it, from the faded cape to the gaping hole in its throat where Cordelia had thrust her lance before her neck snapped._

"_As ready as I'll ever be." His response was instant, his eyes tracing the Revenant's every move as it stalked ever so closer to the fort. The wolves continued to growl in front of them, but they were nothing more than a distraction and some jerky for later._

_There was nothing else to say._

"_Go."_

* * *

The forest clearing they stood in had been transformed from a vibrant, lush green forest to a dead, hollow landscape. Embers licked the tips of once-green grass and cinders danced on the edges of fallen trees like the death throes of a fighting wyvern.

"Marth, huh. Like the hero king?" Chrom couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle at the thought as he caught Robin's lolling head with his free hand, Lissa's sleep spell's effect kicking in just as her worn staff shattered into motes of light and splinters. "Nevertheless, you have our thanks. If not for your help then I would've died back there with Robin."

"It was no problem, sire." Marth's tone remained clipped as he sheathed his blade, the remaining black smog slowly retreating past his figure. "I did what any human would do." The masked man turned to face them, his blue cloak obscuring his weapon from sight.

There was something odd about the man, even as Chrom looked at him, the disconcerting feeling of nostalgia overtook his senses. He wore an ornate - but faded - blue garb with a matching cloak that strangely also matched his hair color, practically the same shade as Chrom's.

And then there was the mask, shaped strangely in the form of a butterfly, hiding his eyes from curious eyes through dark slits.

"Say, have we met before? I don't recall ever meeting someone like you and yet… You seem strangely familiar…" He eyed the newcomer as Frederick picked up the white-haired swordsman before climbing up and securing them both to his steed. Marth offered no reply, instead gazing off into the distance, where the final flames began to burn out, leaving a land of white in the forest.

Any such response he would've received from the mysterious individual was promptly cut off by Lissa, who's grave face could be made out underneath a layer of soot and dirt as she stood up and brushed off wooden splinters and ash from her body.

"We'll need to hurry back, Maribelle's much more proficient at healing burns than I am. That sleep spell will only last twelve hours." He'd known her for so long that he could recognise the initial signs of distress in his sister. Being woken in the middle of the night didn't do wonders to her complexion and he had been making her run for far longer than any cleric in the Shepherds would ever have to do.

"Well said, milady. It would be a shame if this man died before we could properly question him." With that, both Frederick and Lissa proceeded in the direction that would lead them back to Ylisstol, with the Knight keeping a wary eye on Marth as he retreated.

"Don't mind Frederick, he's like that with everyone." Chrom would laugh if his throat didn't demand a sacrifice of the ocean. "He's grateful that you helped save us, really." Marth let out a grunt as he brushed past an ashen branch that dissolved at the slightest touch.

They continued in silence until they reached the forest outskirts, with Frederick leading the way while Lissa and Robin slept on top of the steed he was guiding - How Lissa had managed to convince the knight, Chrom had no idea. The prince himself walked beside Marth, offering conversation every now and then; trying to glean any information from the masked swordsman beside him.

"Who made that mask of yours?"

"My friend."

"Where are you from?"

"Ylisse."

"Who taught you how to fight?"

"... My father."

Yeah. He wasn't exactly the conversational type.

Chrom had questions, questions as to what the wall of fire was, to how Marth seemed to know what it was, to _why _Marth knew what that was.

Questions that would remain unanswered, so long as he didn't get more than six hours of sleep and a belly of mead. Honestly, the rising sun was already upon them, sending fiery streaks of red across the horizon and heralding a new day of activity for them.

_Activity. _Chrom gladly accepted the waterskin from Marth, who had stuck with them back towards Ylisstol after Chrom had extended his 'invitation' to join the Shepherds. _Yay._

"Far as I'm concerned-" He yawned loudly, Marth turning to look at him questioningly, his butterfly mask glowing in the light. "Marth helped us. Marth equals friend." He half slurred, answering the silent question Frederick had sent back to him with every furtive glance. A smile graced the younger swordsman's face before it vanished as fast as it appeared.

"I have every wish to trust each and every stranger that joins our force, but I must stick to policy; especially concerning those draped in half-burnt Grimleal robes and masked individuals wearing the symbol of Naga on their backs."

There it was, Frederick the Wary. In all his glory; sweeping aside all potential threats in Chrom's way, preventing them from ever having the chance of harming him.

Then again, said potential threats were pebbles.

"I see." A ghost of a smile flickered upon Marth's lips as he turned his gaze from the horizon to the Knight, who was currently crouched down brushing any offending items from his lord's view.

"_Frederick." _

"At your service."

Chrom knew at that moment that he'd never meet someone in the world with a sense of humor worse than Frederick's.

* * *

"_Tell me, because the world is ending and I'm one step away from strangling you with your own goddamn sword." Robin's fingers brushed by the hilt of Parallel Falchion, where it pulsed sporadically compared to the glowing mark of Grima on his hand. "Tell me. Why did you kill Chrom? Your own father?" He had already let loose all of his fury earlier, as shown by his bloodstained fists and corpses of Risen behind him. Now, he was eerily tranquil; waiting for the bubbling hatred to spark his anger alight once more._

_Lucina stared blankly at him, sitting on the stone ground with her arms and legs in shackles, preventing her from even reaching the bars to the cell they stood in. Staring at him with those calculating eyes that he had always despised._

_There wasn't a reply for a long while; both of them just staring at each other, only the sound of blood dripping down from Robin's right arm echoed through the underground chamber, staining the ashen ground black._

"_You wouldn't understand." Lucina turned her gaze away. "You would __**never **__understand."_

_Honestly, the one thing preventing him from hacking at her neck with the blunt blade until either her neck or the divine sword snapped was the one promise that he had made with Lissa's dying breath._

_Never understand? He almost wanted to throw up, that reasoning was the equivalent of Validar saying he was his son! What did he not understand?! Did he not understand the feeling of losing his friends and loved ones? Did he? __**Did he?!**_

_The earth above them tremored; interrupting both of their thoughts as they looked up, hearing the sounds of screaming and steel on steel. Magic could be heard, being fired indiscriminately before abruptly stopping as a brave laugh was cruelly silenced by the sound of crushing bone._

"_They're… They're up there. The last of us. Fighting. __**Dying. **__All of us. We all journeyed to this one gods damned tree just to get some fucking answers before we die and all you say is that I'll 'never understand'?" _

_It was true; the now-silent mage had most likely been Miriel, he could still make out echoes of Virion's frantic orders as their small defense group ran up the stairs inside the Mila tree, to a shrine that had long since lost its power._

_Lon'qu, Miriel, Virion, Tiki and Robin. Cordelia and Fredrick had taken to moving their supplies towards the Longfort._

_That was it. That was all that was left._

_All down to one person._

_This __**one **__person._

"_So tell me, __**princess.**_" _He spat violently, the once-affectionate nickname now spilling out like the most potent of poison. "What don't I understand? Why don't you __**articulate!**_" _He slammed his boot into the wall, just where her head had been moments ago._

_If she had been frightened, she showed none of it. If she had felt any other damned emotions then she showed none of it._

"_So why did you throw away your home again? Did you want to let the world die for some goddamn nostalgia? Did you love seeing your family torn apart?" The only reaction he got was a twitch in the eye as she continued to stare at the crumbling ceiling._

_In that moment, he saw a myriad of truths flashing through her eyes, each one too small and too sudden for him to make any meaning. Guilt, fear, pain, forgiveness, anger, despair and then finally._

_Acceptance._

"_Home…? Don't you understand? A world like that was as much as a home as it is now, Robin." She breathed out, not bothering to brush the ash that Robin had kicked down from the ceiling. "I had to do it, believe me. If there was another way then I'd do it." She smiled sadly, a smile that never reached her eyes._

_He'd always despised those eyes, he'd seen them on both her and Emmeryn; cold, empty, truthless eyes that only followed a script. Disregarding their own wants and desires. Saying anything to go along with the flow._

"_One day… The world will see what happened, and they'll thank the Shepherds for it. No more cycles and no more gods. Just humanity, left to its own devices." No. This wasn't Lucina. And yet, it was. Like a beautiful, heroic tale, marked by embellishment._

_In one moment he saw the Lucina that he had spent quite literal years alongside; constantly wearing down her mental defenses until she finally smiled and confided in him. Then in the next he saw the Lucina that had slaughtered Ricken and dismembered Owain, dragging Chrom's unconscious body beside her. _

"_You didn't understand the first time I told you, nor the second, not even after my twentieth try. You'd never understand." Lucina opened her chained arms in a manner that was almost welcoming. "This was all for your - all of our - sake" She smiled bitterly, as if the statement she had just uttered made any coherent sense. "It had to be done, for the greater good."_

_This wasn't Lucina. This was some deranged murderer dressed in her visage. This wasn't Lucina. This wasn't Lucina. This wasn't the Lucina Robin knew. This wasn't the Lucina who had been there to confide in him when he was weakest, where her eyes held warmth and a gentle kindness. This wasn't the Lucina who had taken Owain's arm with Falchion. This wasn't the Lucina who had willingly murdered Rick-_

_Who was Lucina?_

_No. Robin's rational mind steadied his thought process. No. It was her eyes. It was always those damned eyes. It was the eyes. Eyes. __**Eyes. Eyes. **_

_Had he peered into those azure orbs at that moment, he'd have noticed the flicker of regret and grief that had overwhelmed the princess, he'd have noticed the single tear that trickled down her face._

_This was too much. Too much for him to take before he dissolved into a blubbering mess like the Risen. Turning away from the shackled princess, he slammed the wooden door behind him._

_The sounds of fighting above them had gone silent._

_He'd get no answers from her. The realisation was beginning to dawn on him. The fact that his friends- his family had died for a hope, for a knowledge that they didn't even get to learn. A realisation that threatened to spill tears long dried up, a realisation too terrible that he wanted to vomit the pitiful excuse of a meal that had been wolf jerky. His Shepherds, his family; dead._

_**Save for one.**_

"_Risen will be here any second." He breathed quietly down into the cell, where the shadow of Lucina barely moved from her spot. Watching the torch flicker as the flame licked up the last page of his Fire tome, he tossed it aside, shrouding the area in darkness. "They'll claw at these wooden bars until the day you die, listening to their rambling. It's nowhere near enough to compensate for what you've done, nothing will."_

_He couldn't stay in this place any longer; with a tempered fury, all he could feel was mixed emotions wrestling to take hold as he choked on the stuffy air. No. He had to get out._

_Heading back towards the second staircase; the secret entrance he had used to avoid the oncoming horde of the dead, his thoughts were too consumed by a fast fading fury and crushing guilt to hear her last words._

_A gentle tone, filled with longing, fear and vulnerability. _

"_**Come back.**_"

* * *

"Oi, Chrom. Wake up!" Lissa had been unsure in the past hour whether to be chirpy or a grump, punching Chrom's leg as he slept on top of Frederick's mare. "We're almost there." Chrom let out a strangled groan, nursing his injured side as he slowly woke up from his position. "You can sleep in one of those big beds once we're back home, look sharp for everyone, 'kay?"

"Triple beds. Terrific. I could use one, and maybe another twelve hours, and maybe a distinct lack of Frederick and Lissa." Chrom grumbled, rubbing his eyes blearily. "Gods, if I knew that I'd only get three hours of sleep then I wouldn't have slept at all." He slid off Frederick's mare reluctantly, patting her mane affectionately.

"Oh yeah, I'm like, super tired myself right now." Lissa grudgingly allowed the near-dead Marth a turn at sitting atop the steed, Chrom was somewhat amazed at how the swordsman still managed to keep up with Frederick's killing march. The man had simply stuck with them the moment Chrom had offered an invitation to the Shepherds. After all, he himself stated that he was an unemployed sellsword and Chrom would be damned to not let a monster like him slip out of his fingers.

"It feels like… With each step, I'm heading farther away from the capital rather than closer." He stretched, his shoulder had a slight ache to where his arm had rested awkwardly on Falchion, not to forget that riding a horse for such a long period of time resulted in quite a painful backside. He didn't even want to think of the aches that the sleeping Robin behind him would have.

Then again, he doubted that a man with a literal hole in his leg would complain about back pains.

"Chrom."

"Oh, I could do with some of Sumia's rabbit stew now…" He smiled at the thought of his Shepherds. "And maybe some of Maribelle's earl grey." He could picture the noble right now, tipping a cup of said beverage for herself and Miriel as they shared what would be the most complicated of conversations to follow.

"Chrom."

"I mean, bear is fine and all, but you get the feeling that you don't want to see it for a while after you've consumed massive quantities of it, right, Lissa?" He thought of Sully and Stahl, probably both still duking it out in the training hall, where Vaike and Kellam cheered them on.

"_Chrom._"

"Oh, hm? What is it, sis?" He stopped his monologue as his sister pointed forward, towards a field of wheat.

"Is that… Is that a _person?!_" She rubbed her eyes, squinting into the distance as if there was any glare from the sun to begin with. "Chrom. There's a person over there!"

_Wait. Where have I heard that before?_

"Well, we obviously can't leave them out like that-" He stopped as a peculiar feeling struck him. "Is anyone getting a sense of déjà vu? I'm getting a really strong sense of déjà vu."

Frederick himself looked like he had just been told that he'd be having bear meat for the entirety of the next year, while Lissa had already ignored him and hopped off the road and into the field, disregarding any care to her singed clothes.

"I mean, we can't just leave them there, can we? Just ignore the bad feeling I'm getting from this." He strode over to the figure that Lissa was crouched beside. Marth himself looked like he had just swallowed a toad, looking back to the sleeping Robin and the figure in the distance while Frederick left his steed to chase after his lord. "Yeah. I'm getting a really bad feeling."

"Milord, would you mind clarifying what this bad feeling is?" Chrom pursed his lips gravely, staring at the figure lying in front of them. A Plegian robe somewhat reminiscent of the clothing that he had seen Grimleal worn in illustrations, white pigtails that trailed down to her shoulders.

"Well-" He steeled himself. "Last time I did something like this, I got headbutted. And we don't have a stave anymore." Crouching beside his quietly giggling sister, he watched the stranger's eyelids flutter.

"We could just leave her there." Frederick offered the most Frederick reply he could ever utter. Chrom suppressed the urge to chuckle at his friend's dryness. "I'm sure there are no bandits in this region, the farmers would take care of her-"

"Chrom, ignore the big hulking idiot for a sec. We've got to do _something_." Lissa blanched at her own statement, as if she had just opened a can of worms. "Have I said that before…?"

Chrom braced himself subconsciously, as if his body was a prophet of misfortune to come as the strangers eyes opened, hazel eyes that matched those of the sleeping swordsman beside Marth. Offering a hand to the waking stranger, he tried to put on his best 'Hi there' face.

"There are better places to take a nap on the ground, you kn-"

He took a fist to the face.

**With this chapter, the introductions for all main characters have finished. To say that I am overjoyed at the feedback is an understatement, and I look forward to writing for such a supportive audience in the future.**

**One may assume that the pacing is slow - I agree, as it's a third chapter yet we've only reached Ylisstol. However, my excuse for this is to avoid rushing any moments, properly building characters and most importantly; I'm telling two stories in one. Two timelines in one book.**

**One story is told from beginning to end, another is told from the end to the beginning.**

**I want to make the reader revisit those moments in Fire Emblem you adore, and twist them in ways that make your eyebrows raise in realisation as you connect the dots. A large ambition, but one that I am willing to tackle.**

**Now, it's on me for the execution of this tale.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Ash has many useful properties as a fertilizer, but one must watch out for excess amounts its properties. As it can result in only the sturdiest of plants living in such conditions. - Encyclopedia of Gardening,_

* * *

An endless world of white, blank canvass for the endless planes. A world without color, without life, without light. Without darkness.

Robyn stood there, or rather… It wasn't, seeing as how she - _Robyn _ was watching herself - himself? The Robyn she was looking at had much more masculine features, with a foreign blade by his side. A dream then, perhaps? A hallucination?

Trees of ash stood tall in the distance, leaves of silk gently swaying to a silent waltz. A scenery drained of color, where Robyn's mind lay.

_Tactician… Seek the truth. His truth, that which is his's is yours, is it not?_

The other, male Robyn cupped his hands together to catch a falling leaf, watching it turn pitch black as it landed before crumbling into blackened ash that seeped through his fingers and trickled onto the blank canvas floor.

Like a single drop of ink into a goblet of water, he could only watch in horror as the black dust pooled in his hands like liquid before overflowing, midnight waves crashing down onto the ground below him as the world of white slowly flooded by the dark ash.

_You can't let this happen again._

The black ash that blanketed the world flowed like liquid and it was at that moment Robyn realised that the ash had transformed into ink. Pooling by her ankles black pores on the canvass opened up and leaked darkness.

_This was because of the truth he denied, what had been done could be undone._

Robyn watched in a transfixed horror as the male Robyn caught sight of her; stumbling towards her in a way that she would associate with the living dead, his arms reaching out for her, an almost hungry in his - _her - _eyes.

She let out a shriek and backed away, tripping and falling into the sea of ink, staining her white trousers and sleeves of her coat black.

_Find the truth. Find it. Find the truth that hides behind his eyes._

White hands emerged from the nightmarish sea; unstained, clay hands that grasped at the male Robyn's ankles, sending him crashing into the ground where more and more hands emerged from below, scratching against the man's skin as he writhed in their grasp, crawling onwards towards the petrified Robyn.

_His eyes. The truth that hides behind his eyes. _The poisonous voice in the back of her mind beckoned, tantalising her with forbidden knowledge. Her body wouldn't listen to her, the fear locking her in its vice grip.

He was slowly sinking into the canvass, a feral snarl blazing on his face as he desperately lunged out to her, a hand that almost grasped at her ankles, flecks of black staining her vision as he let out a voiceless scream. Murderous hatred painted on his face.

_Eyes._

With inhuman strength, the male Robyn threw himself forward, so close that he was almost on top of her, constantly reaching out with his hands, clawing at her face with blood-caked nails.

She found enough strength to let out a strangled yelp.

_Eyes._

And yet, they didn't go for her legs or waist, which were easily in reach from where he was compared to her petrified body.

_Eyes._

Before she even knew it, he was on top of her, ignoring the hands that still clung into him, their jagged nails tearing into his coat and skin. He ignored them all, clawing at her face as she frantically attempted to defend herself. She had to defend her vision, she knew he was going for them, that he was going to take her-

_Eyes._

In her final desperate gambit against the other version of her, she let out a guttural scream and flailed forward with her arms, her fists colliding painfully into his jaw as she prepared to feel the foreign pain of having her eyes gouged out and quite possibly-

The body on top of her exploded into ash, the hands that had clung onto it falling down into the black ink before disappearing underneath from her view.

She could only lay there, gasping for breath, as the ash settled on top of her, the dust-like particles congealing into black tendrils that wrapped around her body greedily.

She merely resigned herself to her fate and closed her eyes before the endless darkness consumed her dream.

* * *

Chrom's mind attempted to think rationally as he rubbed his jaw painfully, staring down the bleary-eyed individual that had quite literally given him a left hook.

In the end, he'd probably never attempt to wake up a sleeping person again in his lifetime.

Frederick had caught him as he fell backwards as Lissa let out a loud squawk that was awfully reminiscent of a Wyvern before toppling onto her behind, had he not been literally socked in the face he'd be laughing at her expression.

Huh, had they done this before?

"Sir Chrom! Are you alright?!" Marth had abandoned Frederick's steed and come running, his hand resting on his blade's hilt as he (presumably) glared at the woman who was now sitting up against the tree blinking sleepily.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Well, not really becau- Yes. Yes I'm fine." He cleared his throat and steadied himself, attempting to regain what little of his dignity he had left. Turning his attention to the stranger as he brushed aside a Lissa tying to use his cape as a towel, he managed to get a better look of her.

While she had initially reminded him of the Robin they had left on the main road, her appearance was ever so slightly different to the swordsman they had encountered earlier. While their coats had remained the same, hers had no strange hieroglyphs decorating it while the only weapons that she seemed to have equipped were a small bronze dagger and a tome that lay on the grass, spilling out its mysterious contents to him.

"So… Uh…" She managed to spin together words eloquently as her hands drifted to her equipment. "Is this like… A bandit attack? Are you here to rob me?" She let out a nervous chuckle. "Cause… I know magic? I think? But would you even wake up a person you're robbing? Are you polite bandits? Do you even get polite bandits? Hell, do you even get bandits around these parts? Then again-"

"Peace. We come in peace." Chrom watched the rather adorable country girl stumble on her words as her brain seemed to outpace her own mouth. "We were only concerned for your safety." To further emphasise his point, he raised his hands up peacefully.

"Safety? What do you mean safety? I've got a knife and a tome, there's no reason to be conceeeeeeerrr…" She paused. "Yeah. I guess I _was _sleeping. Fair point."

An awkward pause hung in the air for a minute before Chrom finally remembered that he could think.

"So… So what's your name?" He outstretched his palm in greeting. "Mine is Chrom, by the way."

"It's Robyn, spelt with a Y, not an I." She gingerly took his hand and shook it.

The Shepherds gaped at her, she gaped back.

"Wha… Why are you all looking at me like that? Is it because I'm left-handed? It's not my fault he offered with his right!" Her excessive shaking of his hand broke him from his stupor.

"Like, your name is _Robin?_" Lissa didn't stop gaping, as if she had been shown the most fantastical magic trick in the entirety of the world. "You're one hundred percent sure, yeah?"

"No. It's _Robyn._ I said- I quite literally said that just a second ago."

"_Robin." _Lissa insisted, if Chrom wasn't so busy trying to figure out if this was a coincidence or fate, he'd start laughing alongside her.

"Robyn."

"Robin?!" Marth seemed to have broken his own trance and echoed Lissa's words, his voice strangely jumping several tones.

"What? No! It's _Robyn. _ N, with a Y! You emphasise on the Y!"

"_Robbing?!" _Lissa was almost hysterical, either from shock or laughter - maybe both.

"_I swear to Naga if you say it wrong one more time-"_ Robyn looked mildly irked at the chipper princess. "I'll beat you with Donnel's stale bread, I really will. _I mean it._" Her hands drifted into her cloak's pocket, presumably for the mentioned item.

Chrom could only manage a sigh, watching the two ladies begin a game of cat and mouse, constantly bickering as Robin-_Robyn _wielded a blackened loaf. Marth had been reduced to a gaping fish and Frederick had his lips pursed, a vein threatening to burst in his forehead.

These were the Shepherds that were Emmeryn's private army. Strong, fearless individuals who would stand up and protect the peace.

… Yeah. He couldn't even convince himself with those words right now.

* * *

_Robin yawned gently in the darkness, unable to find rest within the frayed bedroll he had been given - the item itself was more of a formality at this point, where the ash was eerily comfortable to lay on and the scorching heat meant that he would quite literally overheat during sleep._

_A necessary formality, one that stood to remind them that they were still human. Another small thing to distinguish between them and those who were Risen, constantly waiting below the ground, constantly waiting for prey until their bodies crumbled and joined the dregs._

"_Unable to sleep?" Tiki murmured, noticing him stir within the darkness, although he couldn't see her in the pitch black, he could still feel her comforting presence alongside the other remaining Shepherds in the room._

"_I don't think any of us are asleep right now-" Virion grunted, Robin heard shuffling and the sound of a bedroll being unzipped before taking a nasty foot to the stomach. "Sorry, whoever that was. I just can't seem to remember where everyone was placed before night."_

"_I feel loved, really." Robin wheezed in pain, pointedly ignoring Cordelia's tinkling laughter, the obnoxiously loud sound of armor shifting across the room afterwards easily told him that Frederick had also been awake, presumably quietly sharpening his lance in the night._

"_Analysis of our current situation shows that not only do we suffer from a mild malnutrition because of a diet of stripped oak and wolves, we also all seem to have insomnia-"_

"_Miriel. Please, dear. If we were to talk about our problems then they'd last a lifetime." Virion seemed to be shuffling out of his bedroll? A muffled thump echoed across the shack's room as he grunted in pain. "Yeah, that was Frederick all right."_

"_No. That was me." By the Gods, Robin almost jumped when he heard Lon'qu speak up from his position beside him. "You struck my shoulder pauldron."_

"_Well, your shoulder pauldron __**struck back**__."_

"_Then I apologise for my shoulder pauldro-" Lon'qu caught himself, his naturally polite and stoic manner faltering momentarily. "This is foolish." The two of them began their age-old bickering, both personalities clashing against each other like fire on fire._

_Robin chose to tune them out, he didn't need to hear of the importance of good looks and shoulders in a world of nightmares._

"_I want light again-" He groaned wistfully, his hands reaching out into the darkness, grasping out in reach of an unattainable goal. "I want light, bear meat, a bed and some global cooling." He turned to where Tiki would presumably be lying. "And maybe a good keg of Feroxian wine…" _

"_Hmm…" Tiki rolled over to him, close enough that their shoulders touched. "We're talking about our wants and desires then… Then…"_

_He could feel her stretching out into the air, like him. "Then I would like some potato stew, a long winter and an eternal spring of water." _

_He let their fingers interlope gently as they both mourned over the loss of so many things they had once taken for granted, letting their clasped hands fall down onto his lap._

"_Say…" He spoke up loudly, loud enough to stop Virion and Lon'qu's argument, loud enough to make Frederick pause in his armor polishing and Cordelia's humming, loud enough to turn Miriel's attention from whatever she was doing to him._

"_Do you think that one day we'll have everything again? That the world will live once more?" He'd do anything for one more chance, one more time to meet everyone again. To spar against Chrom, to survive alongside his friends in Frederick's Hell Hour, to play that constant game of hide and seek that he'd end up starting with Tharja._

_Tiki squeezed his hand gently, but no answer came for a long while. Not from any of them._

"_Never… Never have I ever felt so mortal than now-" She grabbed what was probably his cloak and draped them both in it. He could feel her turn to him, her free hand reaching to cup his cheek. "We may not have what we lost back, but we can at least rebuild; rebuild for the world's future generations to develop."_

"_Tiki, that's my nose you're grabbing."_

"_Well said, Lady Tiki." Frederick ignored Robin, setting down his (presumably) sharp lance. "In this world, it is imperative that we nurture the future as well as we can for the smallest possibility that life may spring forth once more."_

"_Speaking of life, I presume that we're all fine with heading to the Mila tree, then over the ocean for Ferox? It was a rather quick discussion during mealtime." Virion tapped a rhythm against the ground. _

"_Well, yeah. First we get some answers, and then we go see for ourselves if there's anything left." Cordelia piped up, her sentence momentarily interrupted by a small yawn._

"_Yes. For my time in Ferox, there were animals and different plants that had adapted to such horrific climates, it is entirely probable that one or two may have adapted to the sudden change in climate with Grima's return." Miriel drawled, he heard a muffled thump before Virion yelped in pain. "Stop tapping, it's irritating."_

"_Sounds like a walk in the park. That is, if there's any parks left to walk in. And… Y'know… A whole bunch of zombie dudes along the way- Are they really zombies? I thought they were possesse-"_

"_Robin. Shut up." Even through the apocalypse, Frederick still couldn't come to tolerate the former tactician's rambling. "Shut up and sleep."_

"_Miriel literally said that we have insomnia!"_

"_Yes she did but now I'm feeling sleepy so shut up." He felt the change in air currents as Cordelia threw something in his general direction, a waterskin, maybe?_

"_I'm offended, really. Really offended."_

"_Then be offended quietly, I'd like to sleep." Tiki grumbled, nestling her head in the crook of his neck._

_The entire room soon quietened down, a natural silence that followed as they each digested the fact that they could very well die this time the next day._

_Robin took the moments to reflect quietly on his Shepherds, this was the family that he had been given at the very start and was what he had left at the very end. The family that he loved._

_Cordelia had broken their silence by humming quietly, an old mother's tune once sung in taverns at Ylisse, a tune that Robin found himself gently humming along to._

_Tonight would be a night where they all drowned in a pretense of solace, like every other night._

_Tomorrow, they marched for the Mila Tree._

* * *

It wasn't everyday Robin woke up to see so many once-dead people _alive_. Wait. Did Risen count? He decided that Risen didn't count.

When he had first awoken in those fields, surrounded by faces so long gone to him that they were almost _strangers_; he had been stuck in a state of odd tranquility, that this was merely a dream his mind was kind enough to show him before he died. The younger faces of the Shepherds he had come to know and love re-enacting their previous roles like puppets to his mind's marionette.

Turns out taking a bolt through the leg and waking up from a spell-induced coma _did _change some people's perspectives.

Now? He could no longer call this a dream. This was genuine. This was as real as _real _got. This put the R in _Real._

A dream couldn't replicate the five senses, nor could he possibly learn anything new if such a vision was taking place in his mind - And the discussion with the maid that had jumped when he had awoken told him that he was in an area he had never been in before.

"We couldn't find anyone who could heal your leg, so instead Prince Chrom decided that the Exalt herself would see to you, with Naga's grace in hand."

Okay. Maybe the fact that he was currently occupying Exalt Emmeryn's room at _four in the morning _would have made him uncomfortable, but that feeling had long since been drowned in as his eyes seemed to _finally _open properly.

Colors, the scent of… Was that mint? Life just seemed to dance around him, the moss that grew on the balcony edge, birds that soared the blue skies above him, _people _going through mundane daily business… What he had once taken for granted until the end of the world was once again _alive_.

His self-reflecting was interrupted as a sharp knock on the oak door rang through the strangely tasteless room.

"Come in." His voice sounded foreign to him, he sounded more like a bullfrog than his normal beautiful self. "Actually, don't. I like contemplating the entropic pull that the universe has-"

Chrom and Lissa had already barged their way in, both wearing tired but relieved smiles.

"Sorry." Chrom didn't sound sorry. "But we heard that you had awoken so we came to get you."

"I could've figured out the meaning of life!" They both ignored him.

Chrom continued on his rambling while Lissa yawned not-so-subtly, both of them oblivious to the tactician's feelings as they sat themselves on top of the bed.

"You should've met with one a person we came across, it was really weird, like she was almost identical to you! It's a shame you never met with her. She must've been weirded out, you know? After we came into the city she left us immediately for business in town-"

"Oh yeah! Her name was Robyn, with the Y and all. Super cool coincidence, right? Fred was thinking the entire time that you guys set this up to prank us!" Lissa yanked a pillow from beneath him and used it as her own headrest.

Robin really felt like what they were telling him was important, but he had tuned them out. Instead, all that bubbled within him was an almost _painful _joy; a feeling that surged up into his throat and left him breathless in his own happiness.

They were _alive_. Everyone was _alive. _Some way or another; he had found a way into the past, where he could literally fix the past not for him, but for his family. His _Shepherds._

"Are you even listening?" Chrom must've picked up on Robin's vacant expression. "What was the last thing I just said?"

"Can I get a hug?"

"What? No, that wasn't what I said- What I said was the fact that we met-" Whatever he was trying to say was muffled out as Robin quite literally tackled him in a crushing embrace.

"Uh... Yeah." Chrom cleared his throat awkwardly as Lissa cooed adorably. "Saving your life wasn't that big of a deal… You know, I mean. It obviously is a big deal but I'm not trying to say that your life _isn't. _Right? You get it, right? So that's why you don't need to - Ah. Naga damnit. Take your goddamn hug." Chrom patted his shoulders awkwardly.

Lissa - always the better at social communication - instead just went with the flow, the two of them now practically engulfing Chrom with their embrace from each side.

They remained like that for a minute.

"So… Are we gonna…?" Chrom obviously wasn't used to so much affection, his own face going beet red.

They remained like that for another minute.

"Are those… _Are those tears?!"_ Chrom felt an extremely strange wetness on his white cape where Robin's head was situated. "I mean, how far does gratitude go?"

"One: they aren't tears. Two: Shut up." Robin grumbled, his own face flaming red as he pulled back. "Sorry about that, I kind of needed it." Perhaps the two had noticed that he wasn't referring to Chrom's saving of his life, for they nodded and smiled kindly.

"Don't worry about it, really. We're here for you, right?"

"Yeah… Yeah. You are."

* * *

_By Naga…_ Robin exhaled to himself in wonder as he marvelled the familiar Shepherds that sat in front of him. The Garrison's main dining area was a nostalgic throwback, smelling… Sumia's cooking in the air while everyone chatted animatedly. The original Shepherds.

Having lost (Temporarily, probably - Lissa had assured him) any ability to feel his left leg had severely impacted his centre of gravity and thus the great, mighty tactician Robin had been placed in a wheelchair which was honestly not a problem for him, right now. He was so cheerful that he could wheel over Lucina with no regrets.

_Speaking of Lucina… _He spotted her, still in her 'Marth' persona, conversing politely with a laughing Vaike as they dined. A savage smile threatened to break his composure as he thought of his plan.

"Shepherds! Today we meet a new addition to our ranks alongside Marth! His name is Robin. A fine swordsman with an eye for strategy to boot!"

He received the bleary, half-hearted "Yay." in response. Robin didn't blame them, really. They had literally just been woken up at an ungodly hour - Robin had smirked, the war with Plegia hadn't started, so Frederick's Hell Hour hadn't either - and introduced to a man wearing a cloak with hostile Plegian symbols.

There was no stopping his grin and the happiness that welled up inside him. Seeing them all gathered here in such a familiar place; with friends and family once long gone.

Robin swore that he wouldn't let the same fate that had happened in the future happen to them again.

And thus, his plan began. His long term goal of eliminating every threat in his way until the only thing that was protecting Grima was the dastard's scaly hide.

"Hi. Everyone. It's an honor to be here, really." He struggled to his feet, Chrom offering support as those who had only been paying the slightest amount of attention diverted it all to him.

"Sorry about this. I'll explain it all later, trust me." He whispered to the prince beside him, who raised his eyebrow in question. Chrom shrugged his shoulders, completely unperturbed by whatever he was going to say.

"My name is Robin, I'm hoping to become the tactician of the Shepherds here." He made sure to keep constant eye contact with Lucina as she turned to face him, she didn't know he was onto her. She didn't know that _he knew_.

"My name is Robin-" He repeated.

He could make a difference. The apocalypse wasn't inevitable. _Grima _wasn't inevitable.

"_-And I come from the future._"

**Confession time: I've never actually played Fire Emblem Awakening.**

**That being said, what's everyone's favorite ship for Robin? It's interesting to see how much of a person I can learn through the romantic partner they select for a character they portray. **

**I came across several ideas while writing this chapter, some were discarded while others were kept. I was actually thinking of starting a side story dedicated to Robin's flashbacks, as there is so much more than the ones that I cherry picked for each chapter.**

**Let it not be ignored that I massively appreciate the surge in readers. Each new review, favorite and follower fill me with a lovely warmth.**

**Fear not, Robyn will be back soon - next chapter soon- and I have something **_**very **_**interesting coming up, something that constantly adds to my thirst to write. I merely thought that there would be too much in one chapter. In one sense, you could say that Robyn is the one with the most humor out of the two, being oblivious to the possibility of the end of the world unlike Robin.**

**Once again, I will mention that the support that you have given to me is very much appreciated. It isn't everyday where an actual person behind a screen receives so many warmhearted compliments from others possibly like him.**


	5. Chapter 5

"_This is your requiem! Be rendered for this godless world!" - 'Precursor' to the dark dragon, the final chapter of the 'Fairytales fit for Adults'_

* * *

Chrom dropped him. - Okay dropped was an exaggeration, but he did slide from his grasp and Robin would take it to the grave saying Chrom had dropped him.

Lucina choked on the water she had been sipping.

Virion clapped as if he had told an excellent joke.

Miriel decided that her encyclopedia was evidently more interesting than Robin.

Vaike laughed again, this time filled with uncertainty.

Frederick (probably) considered lancing him on the spot.

Sumia walked in from the kitchen and stumbled, almost dropping the bowl of stew she had been carrying had Maribelle not caught her, both unaware to the Arcfire Robin had just dropped.

"Kindly refrain from joking of such matters again, sir Robin." Frederick recovered from his initial shock faster than everyone else in the room. "We appreciate your attempt at humor, but alas; it simply is too early for your brutish jokes."

"What? No! I meant it! I came from the future, no joke." Robin struggled to his feet, using Parallel Falchion as his support. "Fifteen to twenty years, to be exact."

Quite literally everyone except for Lucina went back to their meals as if they were used to dealing with eccentrics- which _was _true, now that Robin thought about it.

"Look! Stop giving me that look, I'm serious, Chrom! Look into my eyes and see if I'm lying!"

The man did as he asked and merely sighed.

"Look, I know you just woke up after a long night with injuries nevertheless, I don't blame you for having a blurred mind so early in the morning-"

"_Chrom._" They stared at each other in silence for a minute, perhaps a bit too long for Robin's liking. Finally, the blueblood relented with a roll of his eyes.

"I give up. Sure. You're from the future. Yeah. Totally." Chrom grumbled, taking a seat next to Miriel. "I'm hungry. What's for breakfast, Miriel?"

"Sumia's rabbit and potato stew-"

"You're just going to _believe_ him?!" Frederick was appalled, as if he had just been slapped by a skewer of bear meat.

"You're just going to _believe _me?!" Robin was appalled, as if he had just been slapped by a skewer of ashen oak bark.

"He doesn't look like he's lying-" Robin's immediate guess was that the prince didn't care, instead choosing to reach for a steaming bowl that had been passed down to him. "So he's either speaking the truth or he'd gone mad while he slept." The man granted himself a whole loaf of bread. "Besides, he's a trusted comrade and friend. I'll take his word for it."

Having apparently said what he wanted to say, Chrom happily dunked a colossal slice into the stew before shoveling it down his throat.

"Then if you are apparently speaking the truth, then what of the so-called amnesia you had?" Ouch, Frederick really didn't trust him, his hands already drifting to the blade by his waist. He had taken it upon himself to question what was arguably the most questionable individual he had ever met in his service.

"Uh… That was a lie, initially; I just wanted to see how a timeline could change if I- _Frederick! Blade down! Sharp! No!_"

Frederick, apparently not wanting to spoil his lord's appetite with freshly killed Robin, sheathed his blade grudgingly at the look Chrom sent him.

"Articulate." They were really not getting off to a good start.

"Alright-" He slid onto the seat opposite of Chrom. "Sorry Sumia, mind moving your legs a little?"

"How do you know my nam-"

"Right." Robin waited patiently for Chrom to swallow the god-awful massive chunk that had lodged itself in his throat. "So first things first, because I'm really not trying to screw up right now-" Lucina appeared in the peripheral of his vision, no longer interested in Vaike's story as she leaned closer in their direction.

"I'll admit, I lied. I didn't have amnesia, so sorry about that."

"Yeah. I already knew." Chrom graciously accepted a silver spoon from a mortified Maribelle, who couldn't stand the sight of her prince drinking straight from the bowl.

"Yeah, that's great. So what I was saying- _Wait, what?!_"

"Yeah. I already knew. That act really couldn't have fooled anyone even if you had tried."

Frederick shuffled awkwardly behind him.

"Well… _Damn_." Robin whistled, helping himself to a bowl of stew before accepting a single slice of bread from Miriel, who nodded curtly. "I thought my performance was pretty good, honestly speaking."

"I'm sure we all have our secrets, friend. Don't worry, what were you saying?" Okay, maybe Chrom was a lot more perceptive than Robin had originally given him credit but _damn_. He was too trusting for any normal human being. This was going to go much easier than Robin had thought.

"But how can we tell you're really from the future?" Scratch that, Robin almost forgot Frederick existed.

"I can name every single Shepherd present and tell you a stupid secret that they have?"

"Oho? You can?" Chrom raised a skeptical eyebrow, smiling as if he were watching a street dancer perform.

Robin contemplated devouring the bowl in front of him, almost forgetting that Maribelle was still present.

"Then please do, sir Robin. Let us see that you're truly from the future." Frederick laced his voice with a dramatic irony that almost made Robin crack a smile. Perhaps the Shepherds _had _been listening in, as the dimly-lit room suddenly went quiet.

"Uh…" Robin straightened his posture, looking around the room. While he had boldly claimed that he knew the secrets of every one of them, it had already been four years since he last saw a _living _being. So that put a dent in his plan.

"There's Vaike, right there; he calls himself 'Teach' a whole lot, claims that he's 'Chrom's Rival' and currently has lost his axe."

The mentioned man blinked in surprise at being referred to before checking his waist.

"Wait… What?! He knew?!"

"I highly doubt anyone apart from Vaike himself wouldn't know that he was missing his axe." Frederick's deadpan tone made Robin chuckle briefly before his eyes fell on his next target.

"Virion… Has some complicated circumstances, but I'd be willing to prove my authenticity in private. He's quite the shot with a bow… Uh… I've never actually won against him in chess before."

"He speaks the truth! Marvelous!" Virion clapped to him, yet his eyes narrowed; a look that Robin knew all too well. _He wants to have that talk soon. _Robin did his best job of assuring the archer, even giving him the thumbs up in encouragement.

"Information that can be scrapped from observation of the man himself in training." Frederick shook his head, still adamant that Robin wasn't speaking the truth. Honestly, Frederick's stubbornness was like Chrom multiplied by Emmeryn then put to the power of _Robin_.

"Sumia-" The young woman next to him started in surprise, unsuspecting of his sudden address. "Sumia's recently finished reading _Flight of the Elegant Prince_…? Wait, no. It wasn't that one… Uh…" He wracked his brain in thought, silently apologizing to the shy woman. "No, it was _Ylissean Bedchamber Scandals_… Yeah. I remember you mentioning that you sent Cordelia a rave review-"

"Stop! Stop! I know! I get it, Robin. I really do." Sumia did what she did best: hide behind her hair as she shrunk under Chrom's inquisitive glance. The prince not seeing the reason why she was mortified. She had been so embarrassed that she didn't even question how he knew her best friend.

Robin had certainly captured the Shepherd's interest now, as they began gathering around the table he was situated at.

"That information could be fou-" Robin waved off Frederick's complaints.

"And now you've got Frederick! The big, burly _hunk _of a butler that's too dedicated to collecting pebbles… Now let's see…" Robin hummed to himself, trying to think of the best way to get back at the stoic knight that had become his best friend over the lonely years. Whatever he had to come up with _had _to convince him while Robin could have a good time.

"Frederickson here is afraid of big _bad _wolves, having a traumatic experience from his past." He watched the knight's eyebrows shoot right up. Oh, he wasn't stopping now. Robin allowed the savage grin that had been threatening to break his face the entire time to shine in the light. "He's also got a really strange enjoyment of making a good fire, especially with his favorite piece of flint- left pocket, by the way."

"Wha- How? _What?!_"

Chrom looked up from his meal, evident surprise painted on his face as he turned to Frederick. Frederick was hardly one to get flustered, after all.

"Is that why you're always asking to set up camp?"

"_Preposterous! Milord, preposterous!"_

"And for our finale, our grand prince _Chrom._" He watched the man's smile fade quickly from his lips, a slight panic appearing on his face. Nope, he was on a roll. Not even Grima could stop him now.

"Chrom here is by far the best man in the Shepherds, no one can disagree." Robin began dramatically, watching the surrounding Shepherds smile dryly. "He's just got the _slightest _problem with his temper."

Chrom had realized what he was talking about, his eyes widening in alarm.

"He's cracked a massive hole in the wall to the west side- quite impressive. It allows _someone _like the hero-king of old slip through unnoticed. I- How did you do it, really?" Robin sounded genuinely interested in the story. "Did you learn how to use _Luna _by accident or something?" He watched Lucina flinch slightly, resisting the urge to lick his lips savagely.

"Please stop." Robin must've gotten his point over Frederick, as the man had slumped down onto the seat next to his lord.

"I thought that you didn't believ-"

"_Stop."_

"Okay."

* * *

"Just kidding. As if I'd stop" Robin laughed, snacking on the crust of his slice, marveling the beautiful taste of _bread_. "Chrom was supposed to be at a meeting an hour ago, so he's left Lissa there to suffer.

"_What-_"

"_Milord, you had a meeting?!"_

"Robin. You _asshole!_" Chrom managed to grab onto the remaining loaf as Frederick quite literally wrenched him out of his seat and marched him out of the garrison. "_I won't forget this!_"

"What about me? You never mentioned anything that could contribute to your analysis of knowing every one of us?" Miriel held out another slice of bread, completely unfazed by the fact that Robin had demolished three-quarters of the individuals present. "I will grant you another should you answer."

"Bribery. Really?" He stared at her with what could be his best deadpan.

"It's yours to take." She stated simply, a wry smile flickering on her expression.

"Damn right it is." He mulled over his thoughts, using the time to scoop out a potato with his bread-spoon. "Well, you're obviously Miriel…" He pondered some more, trying to find the correct words. "You've got your mother's diary in your right breast pocket-"

"_Guys…? Guys?! Tiki! Miriel! Virion! Lon'qu! Anyone?!" Robin struggled up the final steps, almost tripping over a half-decapitated Risen attempting to bite his ankles. Hoping against hope, his feet slipping on the blood-coated wooden steps that led to Naga's shrine._

_He didn't even see Tiki's body, buried among the smoldering Risen that piled above, her cracked dragonstone dissolving into ash as he stepped on it._

_He found Lon'qu's blade, still deeply embedded in the bodies of two Entombed that still lived, thrashing on the ground. _

_Virion was merely a few steps above, a barbed whip wrapped around his bloated neck while his arms still clung strongly on the neck of the Risen that wielded the weapon. Robin's sick mind concluded that Lon'qu had died trying to help the archer._

_Nothing more for the rest of the steps, only a broken axe that had been embedded into the almost-indestructible wooden walls._

_The only full-body he had found was Miriel's, a blade protruding from her stomach._

_In her last moments, she had abandoned her tome. Instead, her hands rested on a little notebook, it's cover too stained black with blood for Robin to decipher._

"-bin? Robin?"

"Y-Yeah? What?" Robin faltered, blinking as Miriel regarded him cooly.

"I was asking why you suddenly stopped, though I can assume confidently that an unpleasant memory resurfaced. I was correct, was I?

She got him good.

"Nah, it's just that I remembered that I got… chased out of your tent after you assumed me to be a hooded pervert." He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He cringed at the story he had made on the spot, _this _was why Chrom never made him babysit small Lucina.

"Sure."

She didn't believe him.

Lucina had long since departed, no-one, noticing her disappearance.

* * *

_He found her easily, it had become a little pastime of his now. Whenever distressing news had come into the castle and a quiet, concerning meeting was adjourned. He'd always find Lucina by the pantry, taking in the smells of exotic spice and home-cooked meals._

"_Hello, Robin." She didn't even need to turn round to know it was him, he wordlessly joined her on the balcony, watching over the chefs work their magic in their pots._

"_Have you ever thought about a change in location? You could watch Tharja… Cook? I think she cooks. Or that cauldron of hers is just for show."_

"_I'm not in the mood for jokes right now." _

"_But __**I'm **__in the mood, princess. You can't stop me." He watched the faintest of smiles appear on her face before disappearing, her stony expression returning. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"_

"_I just said-" Lucina sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly as he dragged over a pair of seats. "Why?"_

"_I… To be completely honest, Chicken jokes aren't really funny, I didn't actually think you'd ask so I didn't think that far." Did she give him a deadpan? She always looked deadpan, to be honest, a deadpan stare that made him chuckle._

"_Then how about…" She knew what he was doing, but she indulged in the guilty pleasure of procrastination as her eyes traveled to Sumia, who was dipping an entire chicken inside a pot. "So that it could ensure its future survival from learning from previous mistakes its friends made?" _

"_That wasn't remotely funny."_

"_Right."_

_An awkward silence._

"_Want to… Talk about it?" Robin tried to be subtle, keyword: tried. Well, it wasn't every day when your best friend suddenly stood up and proclaimed that he'd do something that could get him killed._

"_No."_

"_I mean, you look like something's troubling you."_

"_No. I mean it."_

"_Does Chrom die trying to perform the Awakening? Do we have a traitor in our midst and they're coming for us?" He was genuinely concerned at the future princess' behavior, nothing bode well when a time traveler was feeling uncomfortable._

"_Robin. Stop. Please." He would've made a great joke, then and there. A joke that would lift their spirits for the next day as they made the ultimate weapon to slay Grima._

_Any joke he might have uttered died in his throat as he stared at her expression. He knew that face well; the hunched over 9body, occasional tremble and a vacant expression._

"_Lucina." His change in tone must've gotten her attention as he turned from the cooks to bop her nose gently. "I know you're a person who'll keep things bottled to herself, like her father-" He rolled his eyes. "And I can see that you're struggling mentally. I can't help unless you tell me whatever's been haunting you."_

_A pause, both of them searching each other's eyes for the slightest sign of deceit or malice. Both found nothing._

"_I cannot say. Even with my Father's life on the line. I will never utter those words to any living being for as long as I live." Robin pursed his lips, she was as stubborn as her father, so when she spoke with such conviction Robin knew that this was the truth._

"_I… I'll say this, then." He started carefully, staring at her long and hard. "I don't know what you're doing, or what you know that someone will do. But all I can do is wish you best luck in whatever it is, and that one day you can find it in your heart to tell anyone of this. It can be me, Chrom, Lissa, anyone. Naga, even Frederick if you want." He patted her shoulders awkwardly, unsure whether or not the swordswoman was even aware of the concept of a comforting touch._

"_Of course. Thank you, Robin. Truly. Your words may not seem much, but they are a great distraction to others right now." Lucina smiled sadly, resting her hand on the arm he had been patting her with. He never really understood why she had looked so somber, so conflicted and so broken even as he revisited his memories._

_He'd come to regret his words not even a day later when she tossed Falchion aside and dragged Chrom off into the darkness while Risen swarmed the Shepherds._

* * *

Robyn had seen enough _weird _for one day, thank you very much.

First, she had been sleeping in the countryside - not too far from her mother's farm, hence the lack of concern - and woken up by three scary (But handsome!) men brandishing their blades in her face plus a young girl that looked severely out of place.

They'd then insisted on taking her into the city where she'd be safe, and she'd been so caught up in staring at how the Knight's armor shined so brightly in the light that she forgot to mention that her home was in the countryside.

She hadn't seen much of their unconscious individual as she chatted with their apparent leader - Chrom, except for a flash of white hair before Lissa had draped a cloak over his shivering body. Frederick and Marth weren't the best people to talk to and Lissa had been taking care of their other companion.

It was those events that led to her being herein… In...

Wait.

Where was she?

Robyn stumbled out of the fourth alleyway she had gotten herself into, finally reaching the main road? Right? Gravel crunched beneath her boots as she strode forward, completely confident in her ability to get lost.

Her brain told her to turn back the way she came and retrace her steps until she had made an inner map of the alleyways for future scouting.

Instead, she just followed her hungry instincts, following the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread. Like a wonderfully depraved animal. Sure, there were signs. But right now there was a sign pointing to a bar which was a forge. She didn't know as much as cartography as the next person but she was _pretty sure _that a forge didn't serve mead and steak.

_Left. Right. Ahead. Left. Left one more._

There it was. A bakery that could give her mother's bakery a run for its money. Sugar glazed treats were on for display, the warm heat from the furnace radiated through the building and the tantalizing smell of toasted seeds in loaves of bread made her stomach do a backflip.

She'd jumped in, fished in her massive pockets for coins and handed them over for a bag of freshly baked goodies, content on heading out into the wilderness with her newfound strength.

That was if she hadn't run into the hungriest kid she'd ever meet.

"Fanks! 'Ppreshiate e kindmeff!" Robyn smiled sweetly down to the little girl that had approached her as soon as she turned round the bend, asking if she had any sweet food in her bag.

Robyn, being the kind and generous soul that she had nurtured from being a big sister - Read as Prevent Donnel from baking by feeding him sweets - immediately offered to share the bag of delight with the small girl.

She looked rather odd, with knife-shaped ears and green hair that was extremely uncommon around Ylisse. Dressed in mercenary gear and a brown cape, Robyn had assumed that she was the child of a soldier that had gotten lost.

That was evidently not the case.

"Thanks a bunch, miss!" The girl cheerfully licked the lemon residue from her fingers before yawning. "I'm really sorry I don't have anything to pay you back… Say! Miss! Do you like stones!" She was energetic, for sure.

The kid only reached her chin's height, which A: Scared Robyn as she didn't look older than 16 and B: Irritated Robyn because she didn't look older than 16.

"Stones? Yeah, I guess?"

"Then here! Take this! It's not as much as those sweets you gave me but…?" The girl plucked out a sparkling stone from a tiny pouch she had tied around her waist, a tiny gemstone that glittered in the morning sunlight.

"No worries, I never expected anything much in turn. Don't worry-" The girl had already pushed the small stone into her hands and moved on, her sentences forming rapidly. Heck, she was _energetic._ So energetic that it made Robyn feel drained.

"My name's Nowi! What's yours, little girl?"

Okay. Robyn was _nineteen._ Not some tiny midget that had taken sweets off a _total _stranger. Nowi seemed harmless, a kind soul. She most likely didn't mean what she said.

"Hello…? _Midget?_" She waved a hand in front of Robyn's bewildered face.

To hell with kind souls. Robyn wanted that lemon tart back.

"My name's Robyn. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nowi." Her sweet smile suddenly seemed a tad bit forced as she patted Nowi's head kindly. Hey, she had to be petty to beat pettiness.

A housewife threw open the shutters above before spitting down onto the ground for good measure as she hung up wet clothes. She took one look at the two and turned back, complaining about 'children'

"It's a pleasure to meet you too!" Nowi's smile seemed a tad bit forced as Robyn continued to pat her head, a distinct chill forming between the two as they continued smiling.

The shopkeeper walked out of the bakery, took one look at them before turning back to go inside.

"Gregor no paid enough. Gregor will pay no heed." He mumbled before the door closed shut, leaving the pleasant sound of the entry bell jingling. The sound shaking Robyn out of her staring contest, she looked down to the piece of paper that Nowi had scrunched up in her hands.

"So where are you going now, _little girl_?" Robyn had stopped patting her head and now crouched down to Nowi's height, quietly enjoying how the kid's expression changed from confused to anger.

"I'm thinking of joining these Shepherds!" Oh boy, her eyes weren't smiling even as she showed Robyn the recruitment poster she had been gripping. Robyn cast a glance over it, seeing the familiar face of the Prince Chrom raising his sword as she read the flavor text.

_The prince of Ylisstol, Prince Chrom hereby is recruiting talented members for his personal army; The Shepherds. Any personnel of all talent is welcome, so long that you are not a devoted fan of Lord Chrom with no ability whatsoever or a stranger that Prince Chrom happened upon in the dead of the morning._

Wait.

Wait a minute.

_Wait one Naga damned minute._

"Oh, great!" She swallowed hard, staring at the familiar portraits that gazed back. "Good luck with that. Yeah." This was just a coincidence, right? Didn't _Flight of the Elegant Prince _start with a blue-haired prince finding a maiden sleeping in the middle of nowhere before recruiting her into his pegasus knights?

_No. Coincidence. Coincidence. Coincidence._

"Thanks for that!" Nowi seemed genuinely happy, by Naga, she was erratic. "Why don't you come too?" She did a little twirl on the cobblestone path before almost tripping over a stray cat.

"What? Why?" Robyn hadn't even noticed that they had begun to walk down the main road to the towering castle in the distance. "I'm really not supposed to be in the city, my mother's probably worried sick-" It was true, she hadn't come back last night, so her mother and brother would be beside themselves with worry at this rate.

Family was important, she had to make sure that her family knew she was safe before being provoked by tiny girls with delusions of becoming princesses.

"Aww… Is mommy's little girl so scared to join the big bwad army?"

_This little shi-_

**A humorous chapter, one that pushes this slow story ever so slightly forward, I enjoyed writing this. I think I've found the balance for how I'll write this story in.**

**I find myself quite surprised at how I can take up so much space writing two conversations. It's been five chapters and we haven't gone past two days. I do want to point out though; those who pay attention to small details are rewarded.**

**I was quite literally overjoyed at the sight of **_**five **_**reviews in less than four hours, to speak bluntly: Wow. Wow**_**zers**_**. The kindness and support you've given practically showers me in happiness. For my first fanfiction, you've been making it a pleasant ride.**

**I'll keep this author notes short and sweet, but major props to those who read through these.**

**That being said, what's your - the reader - opinion on what will happen next? You may be correct… Or you potentially could open up my eyes to a striking possibility that my sleep-addled mind couldn't figure out.**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this story.**

**Wednesday 23rd October: I've decided on what I want to do, going forward. I'll leave it at that for vague descriptions of my ambition. This is the last time I will retract a chapter, I swear.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Standard procedure? Get in, obliterate and get the hell out as fast as your legs can carry you - I force you to go to Freddy's Death Hour for a reason. - Robin to the Shepherds, one-day briefing before the assault on Validar._

* * *

"Chrom." Robin turned to face the prince - he had been waiting for Chrom's damned meeting to finish, waited outside of the meeting hall with his hands on Falchion as he sat in his wheelchair ready to protect the Shepherd's leader from Lucina at any given moment. "Tell me this a joke, a really funny one. Because maybe I'll laugh… _Out of pity_."

Robin wasn't in a great mood. Robin had only managed to pry himself from the Shepherd's undying curiosity to accompany Chrom. Robin had stood (sat?) guard by the door for nearly an _hour. _Robin was _not _in a great mood.

Chrom disguised a chuckle with a cough before straightening his posture. He'd invited the white-haired swordsman into the meeting halls once he received complaints from maids that he almost speared them, the tactician was sat beside him by the main table overlooking the crowd before bim.

Robin had gone in expecting the usual pompous nobles, the occasional general and a waste of time.

He did _not_ expect a recruitment effort. The stew that he had just eaten felt like lead in his stomach.

Dear Naga- _how many women were there?! _Robin frowned at the overwhelming women to men ratio, quickly scribbling a '_Tactician' _title card in front of him. There had to be at least a hundred people in this one hall, all sitting on hastily-set wooden benches as Chrom gestured them forward.

"Joke? No, not really - I'm quite surprised at the number of potential recruits, though-" He smiled to a group that approached them. "Hello, welcome to Ylisstol's main castle, all paperwork is to go to Kellam here-" Robin almost - _almost _started as the familiar knight blinked into existence.

"I'm never going to get used to Kellam, no matter how many timelines I travel-" He winced as the particularly loud gaggle of recruits left the table, dutifully following the prince's orders.

"Return back to your designated seats, my knight and-" Chrom squinted at his title card. "_Tactician _will have all recruits with potential to head to the training fields, where another test awaits." Chrom signaled for the next group as the others followed his orders and left. "I suggest you get used to him _quick. _Because that's a lot of paperwork and Kellam needs help."

"Yay."

He almost felt like he was handling the paperwork for the Valmese war again. Skimming his eyes over each profile, he sorted between potential recruits and the common riffraff.

There was a _lot _of common riffraff.

"Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope." He groaned, what idiot thought that being able to cast _Thunder _was an almighty feat? "Nope. Nope. _Nope. Nope._" He frowned at the tiny pile of potential recruits. Okay, maybe the _Thunder _dude sounded more promising.

And why did each and every recruit need to add their background, life experiences, current job, salary, hobbies, and everything in-between?! Each profile was practically a tome - containing literally _everything _about the individual.

At least he'd be able to keep Chrom by his side - Lucina could go plan whatever scheme she had, he'd thwart it as long as Chrom was safe.

"Uh, hi there, by the way." Robin almost let his concentration slip, Kellam almost vanished in front of him. "My name's Kellam, you said you were a time traveler?" The knight offered a firm handshake over the pile of rejected individuals.

"Yeah, time traveler. I travel time… And stuff- _Nope._" Robin tossed another volume's worth of some villager's life story into the pile of rejects. "Interested? I can put any fortune teller to shame - actually, I messed up the timeline; does that mean that everything's changing? _Nope_." Another book into the growing mountain.

"Can't say I am, a time traveller's gotta top the list of _weird _in our group." Kellam sounded bemused, placing his own book stacks on top of Robin's - almost obscuring him from view. "Don't worry, none of us judge you because of your past."

"Yes, well-" Robin shuffled through his old pile, trying to find the dastard that could cast _Thunder_. "You don't really believe me, do you?" He contemplated giving Chrom the finger when the prince dumped another saga's worth beside him

"I _was _at the dining hall, didn't you see me?"

"I think we both know the answer to that."

"Fair enough. But I heard your mentions of each and every person's secrets. So I guess that adds a little credibility? Personally speaking, it sounded like-" He tossed two books behind him. "-Like you're good at observing, and you've been observing us for a long time- Not that I think you're a _spy_. Just… Perceptive?"

Robin gave him the best deadpan he could do over stacks of books.

"Chrom's accident was like, a year ago. Sumia read _Ylissean Bedchamber Scandals_\- Wait, I never actually knew. I remember her telling me she sent her review during book club…" Robin flicked through some poor sod's life story, not even bothering to read the words. "That's weird. I can't remember."

If he could see Kellam past the mountain (Or see him at all), he'd be seeing the man's best deadpan.

"You're giving credibility to your story, then you're contradicting it." Another book added. Another stack placed on his desk, obscuring him from outside view. Huh, it was kinda cool; having his own personal mini-fortress, with walls of books.

"I- What? Shut up!"

* * *

"_~and the thief cried foul, on his face a scowl, and proceeded to rob the tavern keep~"_ _Cordelia paused her tune to yawn. "Where are we, really?"_

"_Cordelia. If either me or Freddy here had any ideas then we'd have already reached Ylisse now." Robin grunted, levering Falchion against the broken wooden planks. "Come on, get in." He slipped in after the pegasus knight, obscuring the entrance to their passageway with the planks._

_Their small refuge within the Sage's Hamlet had been their home for the past couple of weeks as they tried to regain a bearing of where they were._

_He found the couple sitting by a collapsed table, a tattered map spread on its ashen surface with a tiny oil lamp for the only source of light._

"_It's weird, isn't it?" Robin slumped onto the mess that he had claimed as his bed. "We're so close, yet so far." Frederick nodded in greeting, returning his attention to the cartography in front of him._

_They were literally right next to the cliff overlooking the ocean, Plegia would be a four-month journey; over perilous waters that were infested by Risen and whatever creatures that they had spotted in the distance._

_It didn't even need to be said that the trip was impossible. Their chances of survival were practically nil: Even if they had made it to the boats; they'd have to establish a safe passageway for their supplies, journey over perilous waters where unknown creatures lurked, pass through Plegia, reach Ylisstol and then take the northern road to Ferox._

_A journey that would be filled to the very brim with Risen, with legions of them infesting the ashen dunes below._

"_There's a semi-intact ship we found by the docks through the manor's passageway-" Cordelia jutted her chin to the direction they had come in from. "The manor itself had three Entombed, didn't see anything else."_

"_But that's not factoring in any potential Risen that might arise between now and whenever we go for the boats, I've been hearing a Risen groaning all night when I put my ear to the entrance." Robin continued, resting his hand on Falchion's hilt, which constantly pulsed now that he was always surrounded by Grima._

"_Wonderful," Frederick noted, his finger tracing the charcoal-drawn pathway Cordelia had mapped out. "In the passageway to the docks below, what are the dimensions?"_

"_We… Didn't check, we were almost noticed by an Entombed. The only reason we got by was because of it strangely banging the walls." They all knew why he had asked: It wasn't strange to assume that Risen that had died in the Hamlet could be reborn within the tunnels, crawling from the floor and falling from the ceiling._

"_Supplies are plentiful, at least. We'd be able to survive the journey to Plegia if everyone went wonderfully well." Robin sneered at his own sentence, biting down onto his own tongue as they fell into an uncomfortable silence. He'd scavenged what he could from his squad's bodies, taking what weapons and supplies they could find while Tiki's half-crushed stone was kept safe in a pouch hanging from his neck._

_They had thrown their lives away for a truth that they'd never find._

_Not even a week later, he had forced himself to move on; mentally shutting himself down so that he wouldn't feel the pain that would strike every time he lay in his bed, without Virion and Lon'qu's bickering, without Miriel's positive analysis for the future, without Tiki's comforting presence beside him._

_No. Those moments were gone. That was the truth._

_He knew the other two were suffering too in their own ways; Cordelia no longer hummed before going to sleep while Frederick's obsession with keeping his armor clean had taken ahold of him so badly that Robin could see his own face distorted in the gleaming shine._

_So Robin smiled. He smiled, laughed and joked with the two, raising their spirits once more. How he felt mattered not when his family was the priority. They had all broken one way or another with the end of the world; it didn't matter if his jokes fell on deaf ears, if his smile never reached his eyes, or if his laughter was silenced by crushing defeat._

_Robin chuckled to himself as Frederick gave him a wry grin, shaking his head at the horrible joke that had tumbled absentmindedly from his lips. Protecting his family was getting much easier now that they had lost some._

_Perhaps he'd find laughter in that._

* * *

If she hated anything in the world more than Donnel's bread for breakfast, it was _waiting_.

Robyn shifted in her seat for what seemed to be the four _thousandth _time, Chrom was still standing in front - wearily, which was expected of having to deal with so many people in four hours, they'd had to have dealt with over a hundred people before the next batch arrived.

She couldn't even see past him because of the piles of paperwork, even now she'd see hands appearing from above the pile, taking a book from the collection before either sliding them next to Chrom's desk or being tossed over their shoulders.

Chrom seemed to have brought more workers in too, a mage with quite the obnoxious hat, a pair of knights - the female decked out in impressive crimson armor while the male wore a viridian variant of her own and Lissa who had taken one look at the papers, said '_Nope'_ and disappeared.

"Next!" The green knight shouted over the dim, probably to save Chrom's voice. "Group number eighty-eight!"

Robyn groaned, looking down the slip of paper scrunched up in her hands. _Eighty-nine_. The past four hours had been absolutely horrendous to her. Nowi had fallen asleep clutching her arm like it was a lifeline, her coat itself was practically melting her in the stuffy air, she'd gotten into at least _three _arguments with women about the defensive fortifications in the castle _and _she'd had spent a lot of time thinking about her rash decisions.

By Naga, she didn't even have the paperwork to join the Shepherds - No, scratch that. She _didn't _want to join the Shepherds! Her mother and Donnel would be worried sick, constantly pestering the local town guard for any signs of her appearance.

So why had she come? To prove a kid wrong. A _kid._

She really would've left two hours ago, after that one damned harpy said that the castle had no 'defensive advantages'. They'd built it on a _hill _for Naga's sake! _It had three walls!_ But no. She couldn't. Because she wouldn't leave a kid on her own in a castle without finding her parents and she'd gotten _way _too invested in obliterating the woman in front of her.

Speaking of which… She watched said woman and her entourage struggle out of the training fields, well-deserved despair present in their faces as they supported their sweaty selves out of the castle.

Thank Naga, now there'd be some peace and quiet. The room was a whole lot emptier now - only those that had survived the training regiment had remained. The number so low that Robyn could count them off with one hand.

"Finally, Group eighty-nine!" The green knight shouted out, his face glued to the paper he was reading.

"Psst. Hey, kiddo. Time to get up and get out." Robyn attempted to wake the girl to no avail, no matter what she tried Nowi would shake off her attempts and continue snoring. "Hey. The sun's shining and you need to wake up. Now," She briefly considered dragging the girl, but that'd probably reflect badly on her reputation.

It was starting to get awkward, they were the only ones seated beside those who had passed and the green knight was starting to look around in confusion.

"Group eighty-nine?" She watched the final book on the table disappear into the pile behind the workers, she saw a flash of white hair as one of the workers slumped in their wheelchair, completely exhausted.

"Uh… Yeah! We're here-" She attempted to yank the tiny girl in her hands as she rose to her feet. "_Nowi, wake up!_"

In the end, she decided to pick up the midget, hoping to toss her into Chrom's arms and be home by dinner. She glances out the stained glass windows, momentarily admiring how the moonlight shone brilliantly on the surface.

Wait.

Hadn't it been the afternoon when she had gone in?!

"-bin, wake up! You can't just sleep on the floor!"

"Yes. I can and I will. Watch and be astounded, Chrom. But maybe stay within five meters of me while I sleep. So I can keep you safe and whatnot." Robyn suppressed a smile at the sound of the two men bickering as she approached the pair of knights - who didn't even look _fazed _after standing for such a long time.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" She watched the green knight tap Chrom's shoulder as she approached. Nowi was slowly stirring from her sleep, so that was good. Stopping at the desk, Robyn couldn't help but feel vulnerable as both knights and mage turned to stare at her - it was quite an unnerving experience.

"Hello and welcome to Ylisstol's main castle meeting halls, please place your papers here and- _Robyn?!_" Chrom startled himself out of his own monologue. "What are you doing here?!"

"Doing something I really regret." Nowi yawned blearily, sliding out of Robyn's grasp onto the main table where the Shepherds present gazed at her curiously. "Her name's Nowi. I'll… Leave the rest to her." She gave the prince an awkward thumbs up - how else was she supposed to treat him? He was the _prince _for Naga's sake! She threatened him with Donnel's bread!

"Hi! My name's Nowi!" Right on cue, all signs of sleepiness seemed to be banished from Nowi's body in a millisecond. She hopped to her feet, striking a pose on the table as Chrom blinked in confusion. "I'm here to join you! The Shepherds! Be grateful!" How much energy did the tiny girl have?

Not even a minute passed before the group present remembered how to function.

"A brat," The red knight stated as if it were the first time she had laid eyes on a child in her life. "A half-naked brat."

"_What did you just call me?!_" Chrom opened his mouth before shutting it, unable to find the words he was seeking. He remained like that for a few seconds before turning his accusing expression to Robyn.

"Robyn." Chrom started, an entirely different question being asked in his eyes.

_What in the name of Naga have you done?_

"Did you bring a half-naked child to join the Shepherds?" Okay, she was watching her reputation with the kinda-important prince of Ylisse crumble because of a midget who had taken her favorite lemon tarts.

"_I am not a child!_" Everyone ignored said midget.

"In my defense-" Robyn meekly spoke up as the red and green knights turned to her (A bizarre part of her brain pointed out how they looked like winter solstice decorations) turned their gazes to her. "I kind of got dragged along, so I was hoping for you to shut her down, find her family and let me out before I got hungry?"

Chrom gave her his best deadpan. She didn't blame him; he'd been dealing with the most annoying people Ylisstol had to offer and was suddenly being dumped with babysitting duty when he probably was supposed to be doing… _princely _stuff?

She deadpanned right back.

Nowi attempted to prove that she wasn't a kid - which was quite childish, by the way.

"We sure as hell ain't letting a half-naked brat into the Shepherds! You wouldn't even last a _day_!" The red knight was scolding Nowi, which was quite funny; because although Nowi stood on the table the knight still managed to be taller.

"Ha! I've lasted longer than you humans! I'm one of the only dragons in this world!"

"_Sure _you are, and my name's Stahl!" Whichever person was called Stahl was probably not in her good graces. The green knight beside her sighed, leaving his red companion to help shovel books into small carts provided by the maids.

Chrom evidently thought that ignoring the shouting match between a grown woman and tiny child was _not _worth his time, as he pinched the bridge of his eyes and sighed.

"Is it…?" Robyn trailed off, watching the argument unfold before her. "Is it always… Well…"

_Is it always like this?_

Her answer never came, as a loud yawn behind the pair distracted Chrom enough to no longer pay attention to one of his best soldiers moments from starting a fight with a midget wielding a shiny stone.

"Just when I think I can get a rest…" Robyn heard the man behind Chrom grumble, he adjusted his position on his wheelchair, brushing back the hood that had fallen over his face. "Some idiots wake me up after my _one _rest!"

The moment she laid her eyes on the speaker, the vibrant world around her lost all color as time seemed to slow down, perhaps she was hallucinating, as she could see white flowers blooming by her feet, a blank oak rising through the main table.

A familiar world of white.

"_What the hells?!" _She stumbled back in shock, the consuming white that was devouring all color before her continuing to spread with each step like droplets of paint. It didn't feel like a hallucination. "_Chrom?! What's this?!" _Behind her, the argument between Nowi and the red knight had also ceased alongside any chatter from before.

The statue of Chrom beside her didn't reply, a blank figure stuck in time, pinching the bridge of his eyes. Everyone in the room had seemingly become a statue, lacking any discernible features for her to recognize them. She could see a hulking knight behind the table with a blank face as smooth as marble. The darkness outside the windows had vanished, leaving a dull, surgical light to shine through.

A silent, terrifying and gentle land of nothingness.

And then she saw him. Reaching out towards her, grasping for her face. Black liquid trickled out of his open mouth, scattering flecks of darkness as he wildly thrashed. The male Robin from her dream before, yet this time there were no hands that rose from the earth to hold him back. He rose from his seated position from a wheelchair of bone, his hands sharpening into claws.

Robyn instantly pulled out her dagger and tome at the mere sight of the monster.

He backed up at the sight of her weapons, yet his vacant, dead expression still remained as the inky liquid dyed itself a crimson hue, staining the white world in a blood-red. Beside her, Chrom's blank expression in frozen time showed no sign of response to the blinding blood in his eyes.

Robyn heard a scream, whether it came from her or someone else; it didn't matter. Letting out the strongest spell she could cast from her mother's old tome_: Lucere_, she aimed directly at the gaping maw of the horrific imitation of herself in front of her.

And then she blinked again, color flooding her vision as time resumed. The deafening onslaught of noise did little to calm her frenzied mind. She could hear dim shouting over the buzz in her mind as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change.

She was being pushed against a wall, a blade to her throat as her tome and dagger were kicked away. Chrom shouted something at her still incoherent as the buzzing in her brain only grew louder. An uncontrollable storm where her mind was its eye.

That was when she noticed him. The false imitation that had been haunting her, yet there was no black liquid, no crimson blood or dead expression. The jagged bolt of _Lucere _still stuck out of his chest. The only expression she could see on his face was an utter shock.

_Huh._

She watched the bolt vanish into particles of light, leaving no injury on the man - she watched his shock multiply even further as he grasped at where the bolt had been. It would've been comedic seeing his facial expressions change so rapidly had she not realized that she had quite literally _fired _on the prince of Ylisse.

Something struck the back of her head - presumably whoever had been restraining her had grown annoyed with her constant struggling, as she could feel herself toppling over, her vision slowly turning black in contrast to the white world before.

Beside them, the tome of _Lucere _pulsed a faint white as Robyn collapsed.

* * *

"_No." Was all that Robin could muster at that moment, his own shock and fear overtaking him. "Nononononononono-" He would have vomited had there been any food inside his stomach, he kept on backing up until he collided with the wooden walls._

_He had volunteered on exploring the passageway alone that day, with a half-empty waterskin and Falchion as his only items. He'd been tasked with mapping out the distance between the manor and the docks, traveling through the labyrinthine passages. Spending half the day tapping walls with Falchion, marking potential locations where Risen could spawn, he'd accidentally knocked down a small section of the wall; revealing a hidden area he hadn't mapped out before. _

_Robin had climbed in, using the pulsing Falchion as his source for light, when he ran into his problem._

_A colossal Naga damned problem._

_He looked at them._

_The refugees looked back._

"_You're here for the ship too, right, mister?" The scrawny girl that he'd shared his waterskin with tugged at his sleeve, completely unaware of his mind's condition. "We arrived here just as everything went bad, so we hid here!" She pulled him through into the main area, where a bonfire of wooden furniture blazed happily._

_Robin's pupils dilated as his breath slowly picked. There had to be an average of twenty to thirty individuals, all who stared at him as he entered. Each and every one of them practically skeletons, with no body fat whatsoever; they looked like the Risen that prowled the world above. Wrapped up in dirty rags and sipping water from cracked tumblers held in their trembling hands._

_Hell, as Robin sheathed Falchion, watching the little girl bound over to a woman - presumably her mother - who was tending to a bed-ridden man, who didn't even have enough energy to stand._

_He wasn't Valmese, but he could still pick up different words in their language as they had a colorful exchange, words like "Hero" and "Ship" were being murmured amongst the ghastly crowd._

_No. He couldn't handle this. He didn't want to see the hope that lit up in their faces as they crowded him, reaching out to touch him as if he was their messiah. They didn't know of the world's destruction, that hope of theirs would be crushed. Cruelly snuffed out by Grima._

"_Is it true…? Can you truly help us make it over the ocean…?" The girl's mother hoarsely whispered to him, her bony hands latching onto his sleeve with surprising strength. "My… My husband, he's ill… We don't have any medicine on us - perhaps Plegia could offer amnesty for survivors; they have some of the best medicine in the land!" Her voice grew more animated as hope began to swell in her eyes as she gazed at Robin, who was transfixed; staring at the molding clump that had become of her hair._

"_Mister! Will you help us! No-one here can fight, so your help would be great!" The little girl cried happily over the dim of refugees laughing and crying softly, their hope in humanity restored. He suppressed the urge to join in._

_A familiar dread was beginning to settle on his stomach as he thought of the implications, a dread that foretold disaster no matter what he did. It could've been possible that these were the final human beings besides the remnants of the Shepherds. Leaving them behind would be sentencing humanity to death himself._

_But with their current resources… Their journey wouldn't even last a week, Most of the refugees seemed incapable of even transporting themselves to the ship, thus requiring more journeys as the able-bodied would carry them, which then resulted in the higher chance of the fatality of either Cordelia or Frederick. It truly was stamping the seal of impossibility on their already fatal journey. It would bury any chance of Robin keeping his __**family **__alive._

_But…_

_Robin's mind grasped feebly at the hope, hope that these would be the humans who led the resurrection of the world; that they'd reach Ferox and live in the mountains, where children such as the child in front of him would be able to live happily within the cold, kind climate. He could see the future reflected in their joyous eyes, as they embraced one another and shook awake others._

_Yeah… They'd build a small wooden village by a crystal spring and hunt for wildlife during the day, ensuring that the traps to catch Risen were cleaned and re-set. They'd slowly repopulate, bringing the life that Grima had stolen from the world back into the light. They'd no longer need to eat bark, each of them feasting on berries and wild game every night._

_It was a hopeless journey anyway, so why not take them anyway? They were going to die, so why not die trying? Keeping his family, his __**Shepherds **__alive was a hopeless task in a world of death, so why not give up on that tiny wish?_

"_Mister? Would you please do it? Pretty please?" He looked down at the little girl's puppy-dog eyes, a sight reminiscent of the younger Lucina running after her father as they played games in Ylisstol's castle corridors._

_His family was eventually going to die, so he'd have no regrets on taking the refugees right now: He'd wake up Frederick and Cordelia and convince them to take the refugees, to tell them of the truth that they'd already died when Grima returned, so it wouldn't matter anyway when they died, right?_

_Yes. Robin made his mind right there, surrounded by the hopeful gazes of the skeletal refugees. __**This **__was a noble cause to fight and die for, this was the release that he had almost been craving. He'd die, but he'd die knowing that he tried. That he had tried to fight for his cause._

"_Mister?"_

_Family was always a cause to fight for._

"_**Ignis."**_

* * *

_Frederick and Cordelia had spent the rest of the day having their concerns laughed off by the drenched tactician, evidently impressed that he had slain so many Risen in one outing with only scratches for injuries._

* * *

**This chapter was merely the rewrite of the previous, the next chapter will be out soon. **

**Worry not if you are confused, the hardest part of this story is clearing the initial confusion - afterward, it'll be smooth sailing.**

**Apologies, I can't seem to extend chapters past the 4k mark. Sometimes, a chapter is best ended short, as my stories move at a significantly slower pace than other fanfictions you may find on the internet.**

**I will look at the problem of length - perhaps two updates in a short time?**

**Once again, sincere apologies for taking such a long time - I believe this is nowhere near what I could do given time and inspiration, as I literally forced myself to write this.**

**I've begun posting my scrapped ideas on separate stories, so give them a read should you wish to peer into the idiocy known to me as my mind.**


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